MID-SUMMER, AND THE MINNESOTA landscape is awash in color, despite the drought.
This is the season to get outdoors and explore. Walk the land. Through woods or across prairie. Around a city block or park or public garden. Along a river, upon a beach. Delight in the essence of Nature in all her summer glory.
Flowers flush color.
Patterned butterflies flit, then pause to unfurl proboscis and drink of sweet floral nectar.
Long-stemmed grasses stretch toward the July sky.
I tend to notice details, especially with camera in hand. And therein, in the part of the whole, is the beauty we often pass by in our hurried lives. I encourage you to slow your pace so as not to miss a solitary dewdrop, the texture of leaves, the deep purple of a plump wild raspberry.
Notice the veins in bright red berries, the dusky moth among thistles, the way grass heads heavy with grain bend toward the earth.
From the daintiest of white blossoms laddering a stalk to the bold gold of a prairie wildflower, there is much to see, to appreciate, to embrace in these summer days.
Fill your eyes, your heart, your spirit, your mind with Nature’s beauty. Ride on the wings of the butterflies. Sway in the wind like blades of grass. Then settle, like a single dewdrop upon a leaf. Quiet. Filled with peace. Calmed in the presence of the land.
NOTE: All photos were taken recently at River Bend Nature Center, Faribault.
© Copyright 2023 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
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