I dig what you are saying, and I do use keywords. In LR if I click on All Photographs and then select Text > Keywords > and type owl I find all of my photos of owls. Other keywords that are assigned to owls are birds, avian, and raptor. Ditto hummingbirds: birds, avian, hummingbirds and hummers. Am I correct in assuming that this search will only work properly if one is in Catalog > All Photographs?
At the same time, I find it very convenient to visually scan the Collections list for Snow 130325.
You haven't said that you use Collections at all. Do you, and if so, how?