Buttercups Despite - Missoula, Montana

“Yellow is my favorite, but what is yellow? Handmaiden to white, it is a slight tarnish of pure light. Take away a bit of whites absolute luminosity, and what remains is yellow -- sunlike, golden as a crown, buttercups in a field, marsh marigolds, a finch's wing, a plastic flute.”

- Richard Grossinger

(& yes, this photo was taken earlier in the spring...)

Buttercups, Corvallis, Montana

Irrigation ditches still boast the cheer of hardy buttercups.
Persistent joy graces humble places.

Yellow Wildflowers, Hieronymous Park, Hamilton, Montana

On the radio the other morning, they were saying that Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge near Stevensville, Montana, has yellow buttercups already coming up, due to our mild winter thus far. I thought of the yellow wildflowers shown here, even though I know they aren't buttercups.