{"id":114793,"date":"2023-07-28T01:20:30","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T07:20:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=114793"},"modified":"2023-07-28T14:08:55","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T20:08:55","slug":"showy-milkweed-raindrops-and-my-mom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/07\/28\/showy-milkweed-raindrops-and-my-mom\/","title":{"rendered":"Showy Milkweed, Raindrops, And My Mom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I photographed these Showy Milkweed blooms in a summer rain. I’d gone up into the Wasatch Mountains to seek some solitude even though it was cloudy.<\/p>\n

\"ShowyShowy Milkweed in a summer rain \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 2500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

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\n
\n

You see, yesterday my mom’s ashes were placed next to my step-father’s, and unfortunately my sons, William and Chris, and I couldn’t be there in Virginia when she was placed to rest in their eternal niche. My niece, Kristal, was present, and she, along with some of her friends, held a loving ceremony for my mom.<\/p>\n

\"MyMy niece, Kristal<\/span><\/p>\n

As for me?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I had a strong desire to be in a canyon that my mom fell in love with when she visited me in Utah for the last time in 2018, during the small ceremony in Virginia. She adored the scenery up there – the birds, the animals, and all the wildflowers. Mom would sit in the backseat of my Jeep, and we’d both photograph whatever we found. She often spotted as many birds as I did, which, if you have ever ridden with me, you would know is quite an accomplishment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"ShowyShowy Milkweed and a raindrop \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 2500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Mom would “ooh” and “ah” over the wildflowers, animals, clouds, sky, mountaintops, and birds. We talked about them, life, and how much we loved nature. We had so much fun together.<\/p>\n

I am so very happy she was able to make that last trip out to Utah, that I was able to visit her in Virginia in 2019, and that I was able to spend time with her daily after she was placed in hospice care.<\/p>\n

Yesterday I saw the scenery that she loved. I saw sunshine, billowy clouds, dark rain clouds, stormy weather, and falling rain. At the time the ceremony was occurring in Virginia not only was there rain falling in the mountains, my tears were too. Maybe the earth was crying with me.<\/p>\n

You can rest now, Mom. Love you, now, and forever.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my wildflower, shrub and tree photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I photographed these Showy Milkweed blooms in a summer rain. I’d gone up into the Wasatch Mountains to seek some solitude even though it was cloudy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":114785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4594,13039,26,773,5347],"tags":[6570,6098,6557,7353,3940,6518,6571,6572,12883,4069,4302,5064,4501,14217,5300,1173,2315,11287],"class_list":["post-114793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-morgan-county","category-showy-milkweed","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","category-wildflowers","tag-asclepias-speciosa","tag-blooming","tag-blooms","tag-blossoms","tag-canyon","tag-flowering","tag-milkweed","tag-milkweeds","tag-mom","tag-mountains","tag-native","tag-pink-wildflowers","tag-rain","tag-raindrop","tag-roadside","tag-showy-milkweed","tag-summer-3","tag-wildlflowers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/showy-milkweed-raindrop-mia-mcpherson-6675.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-tRv","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":72055,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/07\/21\/pink-wildflowers-showy-milkweed-buds-blooms\/","url_meta":{"origin":114793,"position":0},"title":"Pink 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Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I missed out on photographing Showy Milkweed in bloom in the lower elevations of northern Utah but not at the higher elevations of the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "Morgan County"","block_context":{"text":"Morgan County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/morgan-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Blooming Showy Milkweed and small butterflies, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/showy-milkweed-blooming-mia-mcpherson-6911.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/showy-milkweed-blooming-mia-mcpherson-6911.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/morgan-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fritillary photobombing a Two-tailed Swallowtail butterfly, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/two-tailed-swallowtail-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-0226.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/two-tailed-swallowtail-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-0226.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/two-tailed-swallowtail-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-0226.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Photographed on Showy Milkweed","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I researched Utah's grasshoppers and found out that this is a Two-striped Grasshopper (Melanoplus bivittatus) and even though I may have seen this species of grasshopper before it is a photographic lifer for me.","rel":"","context":"In "Summit County"","block_context":{"text":"Summit County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/summit-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two-striped Grasshopper, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/two-striped-grasshopper-showy-milkweed-mia-mcpherson-8127.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/two-striped-grasshopper-showy-milkweed-mia-mcpherson-8127.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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