Minutiae is defined as: “The small, precise, or trivial details of something.” One look at the above photos and you can literally “see” that this definition, minus the trivial part, fits this piece of Our Wonderful World to a “T”. Everything about this common dandelion is precise. In its design, its purpose, and its ability to spread its seed and repopulate…not to mention its wondrous beauty.
I’ve said it so many times before, that my wife Monica has such a keen eye for finding the exquisite beauty in some of the most common things. Which is probably why I’ve been fortunate enough to be with her for going on 33 years this September.
Just one of the amazing things about this dandelion was its size. Like most of us, I’ve seen millions of dandelions. We have them in our yard and we don’t mind them at all. Thanks to my daughters help and understanding, years ago we stopped trying to rid our yards of these flowers, I don’t even like to call them weeds any longer, because they are so important to the bees in the early spring. This particular dandelion was spotted as we first entered Buck Creek State Park. We were driving into a parking area and my wife yelled out to turn around and go back. At first, I assumed she saw our first bird photo opportunity, but as I began to turn the truck around, she told me it was a dandelion that she wanted to photograph. My first thought: really, a dandelion? We didn’t drive this far and take a weekend trip for dandelions. However, when I pulled up and saw it, it was huge. At least as big as a softball. The biggest dandelion I’ve ever seen by far. No wonder it caught her eye.
When I began to process and edit the photos, I realized the awesome detail and beauty of this, sometimes hated little plant. She took several photos and adjusted the exposure and camera settings to capture all of the different details, the minutia of it all.
I consider myself somewhat of a wordsmith and able to put together descriptive words, but the details in this simple dandelion almost leave me speechless. The fan-like shapes, that will carry each seed to its destination, blowing in the wind until it finally falls to the ground. As I typed this, I’m thinking I wish I would have gently blown on it and she could have captured those individual natural parachutes in midair, floating away in a peaceful and purposeful way.
This. This is Our Wonderful World! From the tiniest atom to the largest living creature, working together in harmony to make up our existence. So often, in the course of “our” daily life, we get so caught up in work, current events, and the trivial minutia…that we overlook the truly amazing sights and thoughts that we are surrounded by every moment of every day. And it is just “that”, that keeps us so looking forward to grabbing our cameras and finding those next great photos in “Our Wonderful World!”
I hope you enjoy these photos and the more that follow from our weekend excursion. Be sure to “Like and Follow” our page and share with all of your family and friends. Our little blog has reached people across 53 countries as of yesterday. I’m humbled and amazed when I think of the thousands of people who have viewed and hopefully enjoyed our photos.
Until next time, I hope you too, “Enjoy Our Wonderful World!”
RM Goldsmith Photography 