About mid-June when the wild orchids start to bloom in the northern forests, I usually travel the 30 miles to Jay Cooke State Park where there is an abundance of Yellow, Pink, and Showy Lady's Slippers.The pink lady's slipper, or moccasin flower as it's also known, is one of my favorite orchids. The large pink flowers often seem to rise mysteriously from the moss carpeted floor of a cedar bog. The arrival of these beautiful blossoms, foretell the coming warmth of summer. But, like summer, they, too, seem to come and go all too quickly.
This year my niece stopped by and asked me what those cute little pink flowers were that she could see in the swamp behind my house. To my surprise, the ground was covered with hundreds of Pink Lady's Slippers. I had been traveling 30 miles every year to photograph what had been under my nose all along.
I spent the next few days, laying in the damp moss, photographing these lovely flowers while the local mosquito populations had an extra meal at my expense.
Having missed these little beauties reminded me of the many things that we tend to overlook that are right in our own backyard. I had been missing one of the most beautiful flowers in the world for years as I rushed by looking for another
Time goes so quickly, don't miss what God has given you in your own backyard before it's gone.
The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the LORD. And so it is with people. Isa 40:7
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