Looking northeast along the top of the cliff at First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park south of Great Falls, Montana, you can see how the smoke from area fires washed out the brilliant blue of Montana's sky.

Wayside Flower, Middle of Montana

One of my all-time favourite books & movie is "The Scarlet Pimpernel" by Baroness Orczy. A "scarlet pimpernel" is famously described as "...a humble English wayside flower...", and is the undercover pseudonym of the Baroness's fictional hero of the French Revolution, Sir Percy Blakeney. (The story still inspires some hard-core fans, as you'll see if you click on the text links I've included!)

These humble wayside flowers of Montana are more at a black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta).While I haven't heard that they've inspired any literary superheros, they were favourite characters of my childhood walks to town, smiling with unfailing cheer from the grassy ditches lining our dusty, country road.