California wildflowers
California isn’t renowned for its nature as it’s in a desert and doesn’t have typical seasons. However, if you look closely, you can see a beautiful range of wildlife dotted all over the California landscape. I often hike Runyon Canyon in Los Angeles and, by doing the same walk every day, I have become very aware of the changing landscape and the comings and goings of the wildflowers.
One of my favourite finds on this hike has to be the desert bluebell. Growing up in the south of England, I always loved the bluebells as they come in the spring, marking the end of the grimness of winter. The desert bluebell, also known as the California bluebell, is a California native and it is gorgeous. I’ve been hiking the Runyon Canyon trail for 20 years and it was only when I got the camera out and started taking pictures that I found it. It blossoms in small clumps of purple on the hillside – no bigger than the size of a single bed. It only blooms for about a week and then it’s gone. It’s my favourite because of its connection to home and how short it flowers for.
Another one of my favourites is the wild iris, otherwise known as Dietes grandiflora. Originally from South Africa, these flowers grow on the roadside in the Hollywood Hills. This is a really interesting flower because it blooms only for a day and, when you come back the next, the flowers are all gone. Throughout the year it will flower around a dozen times.
Churches
On my travels through America, I came across many churches located in the heart of tight-knit communities. These communities often all gathered together, with the local church acting as the hub of these unions. I was so inspired by this way of life that I decided to capture pictures of these churches I passed on my journey.
One such church is a Navajo church in Bluff (also known as St. Christopher’s Mission to the Navajo). The architecture of the church was originally what drew me there as the church is built in a triangle to represent the Holy Trinity. Inside, the church is set up in a circular layout with everyone sitting around the centre of the spire. It felt right to me. It touched me so much that I came back for a Sunday service and it was so beautiful. For lack of a better word, it felt good.
Lost civilisations
During a road trip from LA to Texas, I stumbled across many ruins of civilisations that I had never heard of before. I found that there were entire cultures and communities spread out over the American Southwest that came and went due to the changing weather, such as droughts. I was blown away by the sheer amount of ruins there are across America from different eras that are now completely forgotten. I find the evidence of the comings and goings of humans over time extremely fascinating.
There were two ruins I visited that really touched me, one being the Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico. Chaco Canyon had a 500-year span about 800 to 1,200 years ago. It’s located in a beautiful valley that is now the desert and only gets around 7 inches of rainfall a year but, back then, it was a very wet agricultural land.
The other ruin that really touched me, I happened to stumble across by accident. It’s a beautiful ruin in the middle of nowhere called the Gran Quivira Ruins, also located in New Mexico. The view from the ruin is amazing – it’s on a slight hill and it completely dominates the landscape, surrounded by a forever of flatness. At its prime, this location was a major community and an important part of the trade route. Today, you are able to walk around the ruin for free, with a ranger only coming to check on the site once a week.
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Imogen Almond writes for Brummell magazine
