It's tulip season in the beautiful Skagit Valley and tulip mania is in full swing. Last weekend our little town was overwhelmed by tourists, as were all the farm roads that go past tulip fields. The sun was out and the tulips worked their magic. Great for local businesses, and tolerable for local residents only if you're prepared to stay home.

Signs that tulip mania has hit included long lines out the doors of local restaurants and this entry from our weekly newspaper police blotter:

4/18, 6:25 p.m.:  Tulip thieving -- Somebody stole two clay pots containing tulips from a business on South First Street in La Conner.

Shocked?  Tulip thieves no longer shock me. I once witnessed a woman get out of her car and cut down tulips right in front of Rexville Grocery! When confronted by Stuart Welch, the business owner, she looked dumbfounded and said "Oh, I didn't think they belonged to anyone."

Tulips make people crazy, apparently, and they have been doing so for centuries.

Here are a few shots I grabbed from Tulip Town the other day.  I'll let you draw your own conclusions, but personally, I'd change that sign to read:

Caution: Tulips apparently impact one's ability to read and make people do very silly things...