Discoveries While Traveling

There are times in life when finding a few quiet moments can feel impossible.

Recently, I had to take two work trips back-to-back. Before leaving, I packed a small sketch booklet and one of my favorite pens, imagining that I would find time to sit for a few minutes and draw.

Instead, the days started early and ended late.

By the time evening arrived, I was tired. The sketchbook stayed in my bag. A few days in to the trip, I found myself feeling disappointed.

As I was heading into work the following moning, I noticed the English lavender. It was blooming everywhere.

It caught my attention, and I leaned closer to rub a stalk between my fingers and catch its familiar fragrance. Then, I noticed something else.

Bees were visiting the lavender as well.

I watched for a while. They were just as busy and purposeful as the bees I see at home, but they looked different — larger, leaning more orange in color, and remarkably furry by comparison. Curious, I did some searching and discovered that they were Buff-Tailed Bumblebees, one of the most common bumblebee species in the United Kingdom.

They were a wonderful and unexpected discovery.

I tried several times to photograph them as they moved from flower to flower, but I never managed to capture an image worth keeping.

Although I was very happy to have seen the bees and learned about them, I felt disappointed again and returned to my longs days and tired evenings.

The next morning, I stood outside waiting for a cab, still thinking about those large, furry, orange bees. Then, glanced down and noticed something else: a single dahlia in a pot and set off by a bed of tiny, pale pebbles.

It was beautiful.

I thought about an observation captured in my own garden (Between Leaf and Stone). The contrast of forms was similar, but the burgundy flower and its dark foliage felt richer and more dramatic.

With nowhere else to be for a few minutes, I stood and studied it. Then, I knew how I wanted to photograph it and got to work.

The experience reminded me that ideas can be gathered quietly in the most surprising places and carried home like small souvenirs. They can sit patiently in sketchbooks, photographs, and memories until time returns and hands are ready to make something from them.

Nature is there and waiting for you to notice.