Walking Among the Flowers

It is my practice and passion to walk 8,000 steps per day whether I’m outdoors or indoors, whether I’m in Arizona or in Minnesota. 

However, accomplishing this task and appreciating this privilege is best when walking outside. Since I live in Minnesota, this is not always possible. Therefore, on many days throughout the year, my walking takes place in the hallways of the senior co-op where I live or in a nearby shopping center. The greatest joy though is to be outside on a good weather day and to enjoy the growing world around me.

During one phase of our lives, we spent the winter months in Arizona. This snowbird lifestyle lasted for 19 years. As the area in which we lived in Arizona was developed with full-grown plantings, I was instantly treated with the variety and glorious colors of blooming cactus. It was exciting to start my walks to see which cactuses or cacti had opened their blossoms during the night. Those blooms lasted only about three days, so photographing them at the height of their beauty was a challenge — a task I loved to pursue.

It has truly become my habit to photograph the blooming plants that I observe along the way wherever I live. Now that I’m no longer a snowbird in Arizona, I search for blooming flowers in Minnesota to capture, now with my cell phone camera.

Later, I’m able to enjoy the photos in the comfort of my easy chair. I also share them with family and friends. The photos provide me with a way to send messages to friends and family with the photos held in an Amazon greeting card frame. I write a greeting or message for the appropriate occasion in my own handwriting. My efforts are rewarded: friends and family tell me they love receiving my photos and my personal, handwritten notes.

Displayed here are some of the photos of the beautiful blooming plants I photographed walking among the flowers inside and outside in Rochester, Minnesota: winter holiday poinsettia tree at Mayo Clinic (left); summer lilies at my senior co-op (right).