Showy Lady Slipper

You know that thing that you have wanted to do or that place that you have wanted to go? I got to check one of those things off the list this year. I am a note taker and I have about 20 places where I take notes, notebooks, scraps of paper, plain paper, lined paper, my arm….I think you get the idea! Anyhow, one note that pops up a lot in things that I dream of photographing is the Showy Lady Slipper in Minnesota. I was born in Minnesota and spent a lot of summers there growing up. 

This summer the kids and I got to go up in June. My cousin, Dawn, told me that the Showy Lady Slippers blooming late this year, as she and her hiking buddy, Gail, love to see them as well and had been on the lookout for them. We made plans to meet up that Friday and we would all head out to where they would often find the Showy Lady Slippers. We, Dawn, Gail, my dad, my kids, and I, climbed the small hill up to where the hilltop was covered, just covered, with so many plants that were dotted with the pink and white of the Lady Slippers. Honestly, you would think that I would have had my phone out to record the moment that I first saw them, but, I didn’t. I was so incredibly wrapped up in that moment but I just kept saying, “wow” over and over, while turning to see all of them.

So, I asked you, you know that thing that you have wanted to see or do? Well, I already told you, I got to do one of them. You know how sometimes after you have done that thing, that thing that you have been thinking about non-stop or planning forever, you can feel a little let down or like it didn’t meet your expectations? Well, this was not that way at all! My expectations were blown out of the water! I could have stayed there for a few hours, and in reality, I did have to go back because this isn’t an opportunity that will come along often, but I know that watching me photograph flowers can’t be all that exciting.

So, what did I learn from gettting to visit this beautiful location filled with flowers? My take away is that I need to keep making lists, telling people about the things on that list, (because how will anyone know what your dreams are if you keep them to yourself), and plan on completing the things you have written down!

A GIANT shout out to Dawn and Gail, my buddies, for helping me check this amazing experience off of my list! Thanks for waiting around while I took a lot of photos!