Falling in Love with Water Lilies

As many of you may or may not know, I recently returned from a four day trip back to the home of my almost-still-sweeeeedish ancestors. Minnesota. The objective was to visit family, see my elderly grandma for possibly the last time and allow my mom to wax nostalgic for at least 72 consecutive hours all while toting along my husband, sister and I.

It was actually very enjoyable. We share many childhood favorites, and it was fun to show Kirk someplace green and cool and beautiful with just a hint of autumn. I jam packed the trip with activities, since it was to be a short one.

Somewhere in that whirlwind, we saw them...water lilies.







Now to be truthful, I have been begging the photography gods for a chance to get some good water lily shots for a while now. I love the beautiful shapes and colors all layered on black glassy water. Sadly, this type of plant does not thrive in Arizona like they do elsewhere. Sure they will grow and bloom once in a while, but nothing quite like this.

There were dozens and dozens of them, in every imaginable size, shape and color. Pure heaven. Add to that a fresh sprinkling of cool rain and diffused light and I was in my own fantasy world.









I watched the rain build up on petals and pads, weighing them down. A few of the flowers had filled with water and sunk like tiny colorful boats. Most were gracefully covered in crystal like beads of water, delicately balanced on colorful petals.






Giant amazonian lilies held a thorny underwater surprise for fishes that might prey on them. I was informed that they bloom only two nights. The first night, the flowers are white, and on the second, a brilliant pink!







I'm in love with these flowers that dance on still water. Pale and hot pinks, reds, whites, purples...so many colors heavily saturated with the grey day.

I think I will have to visit again, if only to see the water lilies.