terrestrial angel aquatic devil

tiger lilies are almost too strikingly beautiful to be of this world. each year i sort of gasp inwardly when i see the first one of the season, as if there has been some mistake, and someone has left behind an exquisite silk purse on the hillside along the highway. but as angelic as the flower is, bobbing in an august breeze, imagine this thing ambling six-leggedly across the sand of a shallow bay, directly toward you. context is everything.

tiger lily (Lilium superbum)

turtle lake, shoreview, minnesota