A Prairie Gift – Black Eyed Susans

Black Eyed Susans

Black Eyed Susans © 2012 Bo Mackison

“Each step we take creates a cool breeze, refreshing our body and mind.
Every step makes a flower bloom under our feet.” ~ Thich Nhat Hahn

Each morning I walk. Each morning a part of my walk is walking with meditation. I don’t do it long, only 5 minutes or so. I usually do it at the beginning of my walk, when I am still on sidewalks and have not yet reached the  pond destination or the prairie destination. I do it to prepare myself for the day, to open my senses for what I will be seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and speaking in the hours to come. To prepare a space for the new to assemble next to the old. To focus on the present.

As I walk for those first few minutes, camera silent, hurried mind slowed, I find it helpful to breathe in and out slowly. And every few steps as I inhale, I say, “Imperfect…” and as I exhale I say, “I am enough.”

And then, in my mind’s eye, a flower blooms under my feet!

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Walking, Bo first slows down, offers gratitude, and then does a brief walking meditation. Then she is ready to take off the lens cover and begin taking photos.

Yellow Blooming Prairie

Prairie at Governor Nelson State Park

Prairie in September Bloom © 2012 Bo Mackison

“The real things haven’t changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.”  ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

I walked in the prairie yesterday. In mid-September, the prairie is a mix of blooming flowers – mostly Late Goldenrod and Showy Goldenrod. Wild Indigo and a few stalks of Prairie Blazing Star are scattered in the yellows. Oak savannas are in the background.

Prairie Flowers at Governor Nelson State Park

Prairie Flowers, Prairie Seeds © 2012 Bo Mackison

The true way to live is to enjoy every moment as it passes, and surely it is in the everyday things around us that the beauty of life lies.”
~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

By this time of the year, many flowers have long gone to seed – Rattlesnake Master and Common Milkweed, the yellow Cone Flowers and many of the sunflower varieties.

Some of the paths wander through prairie that is waist high, but some of the taller prairie lands rise high above my head. It is an hiking experience not often found, walking on a dirt path through flower stalks that are several feet above my head.

The view is all flower and sky!

These prairies were photographed on the Morning Side Trail at the entrance of Governor Nelson State Park, north of Madison, Wisconsin.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Walking is her daily pleasure, her daily meditation. Walking in the tall prairie is a walk for the senses and for the soul.