Bloom Where You Are Planted

This morning when I woke up I wanted to go somewhere with my camera. On this bright beautiful morning I imagined going to the Lyndale Peace Garden in Minneapolis or out to Noerenberg Gardens on Lake Minnetonka. But I realized that while these were outdoor areas, they were far from where I live. Others who live near to these parks may be out enjoying them. If too many of us show up in the same place we raise the risk of spreading COVID-19.

So I decided to follow the old adage

I stepped out of my house, crossed the street and took the path down to the pond that lies just down the hill from our house.

“I am in awe of flowers.
Not because of their colors,
but because even though they
have dirt in their roots,
they still grow.
They still bloom.”
― D. Antoinette Foy

To my delight I saw beauty all around me! These geese and goslings were near enough to the shore of the pond that I could photograph them. Ah, joy.

As they moved further away from me and out the the “scummy” part of the pond tree reflections surrounded them with brilliant shades of green.

I walked a few more steps and found wild violets of all shades flanking the path.

I put an extension tube on my camera so that I could get up closer to the flowers, got down on my hands and knees and began crawling carefully around photographing violets that appealed to me.