Some Moments Are Secrets...And Only Happen Once

Several years ago, I traveled to Palisade, Minnesota to spend some time at the Long Lake Conservation Center. I had not visited this area of Minnesota before and was amazed by what I found there. The Center itself was lovely and filled with numerous hikes and paths leading to scenic spots around the lake. But there was an unexpected and mostly undiscovered area there - very much like a secret garden. Hidden deep within the woods was a bog and if ever there could be a place on earth where fairies might live, this would be the place. The spongey green earth was lush with life and the light had a spiritual, magical quality.

The Long Lake Woods...

One of the many trail markers...

A trail marker for the bog walk...but don't be fooled, this path won't lead you to the true hidden bog. That special place is a secret...

Color and light like no other place in the world...

A place for fairies to live?

This little mushroom standing up to the tallest trees...

I'd never been in such a place before and may never be again - some moments only happen once in a lifetime.



Reclaiming Lost Moments

Recently, I was going through a box of old photos – some of them duplicates, some of them discards that didn’t make it into the family albums for one reason or another. I ran across a picture of Mollie that I had long ago forgotten about.

When your toddler hands you a bunch of ANYTHING that they hand picked and says “these flowers are for you, mom”, trust me, they are no longer weeds.

In the photo , she is very little – maybe only 3 or 4 years old. We had gone to a friend’s party and there were no other little children there for Mollie to play with. But she has always been very capable of entertaining herself so she wandered into their backyard and began to pick “flowers”. I think they were actually weeds – the ones with the tiny little white blooms on top – but when your toddler hands you a bunch of ANYTHING that they hand picked and says “these flowers are for you, mom”, trust me, they are no longer weeds. Anyway, as she crouched in the grass picking flowers, she was so focused on the moment.  It was one of those moments that on the surface, doesn’t really mean anything but for some reason, it stays with you and it becomes meaningful. 

Fortunately I had my camera with me that day so I snapped a quick picture of the moment.  This was pre-digital camera era and when I had my film developed, I was disappointed that the photo didn’t really capture that moment in the way that I remembered.  It was a bit out of focus, Mollie was sort of a tiny element right in the center of the photo (bad composition), and due to a summer haze that day, the color was sort of… blah. It was a very different moment in my mind than it was in the photo I held in my hand. Through the years, I held on to it for sentimental reasons but at the time, I wished  it could be better.

And there it was...almost 20 years later...my memory.

When I rediscovered the photo the other day, I realized that with photo editing software and apps available now, maybe I could revisit that photograph and coax it back to the image that I held in my mind’s eye. So I snapped a photo of the photo with my iPhone and applied some simple editing with various apps. I cropped the image so Mollie was no longer sitting in the center and she became a larger point of focus. I bumped up the saturation so that the haze wasn’t as evident - making the greens of the grass more vivid. I applied vignetting around the edges – soft focus and darker edges – that again, helped to make Mollie the focus of the image. And…there it was…almost 20 years later…my memory.

For me, the beauty of photography has always been the ability to capture a single moment in time. You can then hold that moment in your hand and as your memory fades, just a glance at that photo will transport you back. When we all took pictures with film, it was a hit or miss game for many. We held the moments in our minds, and were often times disappointed with the results captured with our camera. Do you have a box of old photos laying around? Some of those disappointments that didn’t really capture the moment in the way you hoped? If so, set aside an hour or two to dig through and maybe you will rediscover some lost moments. Or better yet, maybe you will be able, through modern technology, to reclaim some moments that you thought had been lost forever.

A Taste of Minnesota...

There are many things that inspire in me in life but today two of them have come together and I hope that you'll indulge me in the next few weeks by allowing me to feed my passion for them both. As many of you who follow my blog might know, I try to write every week or so and share random thoughts on life and enjoying the moments that make our lives full. However, for the immediate future, I'm going to post a bit more frequently...and yet, I will actually be posting fewer random thoughts...and instead be focusing on some of the images that inspire me...and maybe you too.

Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine is hosting a contest for a 3 day giveaway at one of Minnesota's most beautiful lakeside resorts. In order to win, entrants must post photos on Pinterest (one of my first sources of inspiration) of places in Minnesota where they love to hike, bike, drive (or in my view...just "be in the moment" (my second source of inspiration.) While I'd be happy to win the contest, that isn't why I'm going to share these photos with you.

Born and raised in Minnesota, I still live here by choice. I have traveled all over the world and though there are places I long to return for a visit and places I still yearn to see, I know in my heart that there is no other place in this world that I could ever call home other than Minnesota. Over the years, I've enjoyed exploring my home state - attempting to capture its spirit with my camera - and attempting to live in its spirit by enjoying each moment. So what will follow in my the coming weeks are a sampling of some of the Minnesota moments that I've captured over the years. Maybe you have been to some of these places or maybe these images will entice you to visit. Whatever the case, I  hope you will enjoy a peek into my Minnesota inspirations.

A winter morning in Northern Minnesota. The snow had fallen hard the night before and the trees were bravely holding their burden. I took a walk in the woods. There was not a sound anywhere. Everywhere your eye fell was covered with snow. It was astoundingly beautiful.

Minnesotans have a way of making the best of the weather we are faced with (or taking advantage of the weather we are faced with) depending on your viewpoint. These are kite boarders on Lake Mille Lacs.

Grand Marais might be one of the most beautiful spots in MN. This photo was actually taken in Two Harbors as you travel up the North Shore Drive from Duluth to Grand Marais. There is beauty at every turn.

Sometimes "the spirit" is all around you and you don't even realize it.

This photo was taken on the Gunflint trail which at the time was recovering from the previous year's forest fires. I liked the image because of the burnt wood surrounded by the promise of new life.

Just a few of my Minnesota memories and I'll be sharing more in the days ahead. Take a moment, grab a cup of coffee (or glass of wine in my case!), and just enjoy the beauty that surrounds each of us.