This is the time of the year when the poppies in the Mojave Desert north of Los Angeles are in bloom ... but not so much this year!  This season's bloom is the worst I have seen in the last 10 years.  In a few places (including my "secret" spot") there were small patches of  poppies in  bloom but nothing like previous years.

I managed to get a few interesting shots of single blooms but it required getting down in the weeds on my stomach ...

There's a host of small bugs roaming around in those weeds ... They thought I might be their ticket out to more "greener pastures" ... so to speak! 

I always look for a shot that's a little different than my previous ones.  Here's this years ... an earwig  on Mr. Toads Wild Ride as he hung on inside the blossom during a good gust of wind! He's crawling out in this shot.  If it were me, he'd be a little dizzy.  :)

Enjoy!

Adam