It is springtime in the Pacific Northwest. The Columbia River Gorge is wearing a verdant robe of greens with accents of yellow provided by arrowleaf balsamroot, pinks from red currant shrubs, and corsages of smooth desert parsley. This is a brief moment in the season, as the warmth of springtime will turn to the heat of summer and the greens will fade to shades of straw-colored yellows and browns. Until then, we bask in the flush of growth that the return of spring brings to the hillsides.