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| My husband (an avid motorcyclist) had
another brilliant idea, which we lived out three weeks after our primitive
camping trip. The idea: to motorcycle
around the peripherals of the entire state of Minnesota.
Now, we've taken cycle trips to various places, such as Colorado/Pike's Peak
& around Lake Superior. But this state of Minnesota idea didn't appeal
to me... until we actually started the trip. This turned out to
be a 1700 mile trip... and the wildflower
views alone made the trip worthwhile -- actually fantastic! Over the
span of four days, we witnessed Minnesota's varied terrain, from the rolling
hills & fields of the southern part... to the woodsy, wildflower filled
northeastern corner. |
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| The more we cycled, the
more I was on a mission to find a variety of wildflowers in an assortment of
colors & textures. At this point, I didn't even know many of the
flowers' names. I just knew I wanted to photograph them. (The
beauty of a digital camera, as many of you know, is the ability to know in
an instant whether a picture turned out or not.) |
| Interestingly, both the
high & low points of the trip were wrapped up in one package. (For
background's sake, Miss Rumphius
has been a favorite book I have enjoyed reading to our two girls. The
story features lupines that Miss Rumphius sows all over the countryside...
to make the world a better place.) So I was yearning to see &
photograph lupines when we were in the northern part of Minnesota, as I knew
they grew in that part of the state. |
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In the evening Alice sat on her
grandfather's knee and listened to his stories of faraway places.
"There is a third thing you must do," said Grandfather... "You must do
something to make the world more beautiful."
"Lupines... I have always loved
lupines the best. I wish I could plant more seeds this summer so that
I could have still more flowers next year," said Miss Rumphius.
The next spring there were lupines
everywhere. Fields and hillsides were covered with blue and purple and
rose-colored flowers... |
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| We finally began spotting
clusters of them an hour north of Duluth, which was about the time our motorcycle broke down!!
Several hours later with the help of some locals, we were on our way.
And in my camera was a handful of photos I had taken of the gorgeous flowers.
The clusters of
lupines
scattered in the northeastern corner of the state were STUNNING! |
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To right: Here we are in the midst of a lupine
patch... also where our motorcycle died (high point & low point of trip all wrapped up into one!). |
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