10 Fabulous Fall Pictures of Minnesota

Last week, we went for a long drive towards Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota and saw some breathtaking sceneries along the way.

Here are 10 beautiful pictures that will make you smile and brighten your day.

Every leaf looks like a flower, isn’t it? It is glorious around here this season.

Also, I wanted to wish you all happiness, peace, success and prosperity as the beautiful festival of Navratri starts from today🙏🏻. Jai Maa.

Hope you liked the pics. Take care and stay blissful!

OXYGEN

A visit to Mystery Cave at the Forestville State Park in Minnesota, US, was filled with OXYGEN and adventure. There was not a soul in sight and coupled with zero traffic, this trip turned out amazing. And the onset of autumn looked terrific! It was a nice getaway into nature and beauty. Check out the pictures.

About the Mystery Cave, Preston, MN – “Discovered in 1937, Mystery Cave is the longest cave in Minnesota – spanning over 13 miles underground. It is a network of passages that was dissolved by moving water.

On the tours, you will travel the subterranean paths this water has taken, seeing many of the features that make up Mystery Cave including stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, fossils, and beautiful underground pools. Parks naturalists lead your tour through various portions of the cave and explain its history, its features, and how it was formed,” according to the website.

If you are ever in the area and you have kids above 8, do not miss this one! Wishing an Oxygen filled week to you too!

When Every Leaf is a Flower…

Intoxicating colors of Fall at Arboretum in Minnesota. Amazed at God’s splendor! Every leaf is an artwork, every branch is a painting. What a blissful walk!

Fall Colors this Morning!

Fall colors greeted me this morning as I walked to drop the little one to school. The Sun seemed to be in playful mood as it lit and subdued the nature’s canvas at intervals. Thought of sharing the delights with you.

From my apartment

Yellow leaves everywhere

A glorious tree

Another sweet tree

A hillock celebrating Fall

I hope you liked them all!

The Onset of Autumn

Notice how the leaves of this tree are changing colour! This lovely tree, located right in front of my apartment, announces the onset of Autumn every year. Soon, Minnesota will deck up for a colouful and breathtaking Fall.

And this announcer tree will turn a glorious red at the peak of the season and will look like this – see pic below. (Clicked last Fall.)

How well John Keats said – Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run….

Ah, bliss!

She Walks in Beauty

  
I saw her approach. She stopped and looked at my direction for a heart throbbing moment. Then, looked away. The perfumed breeze played with her long dark hair, integrating her with the colourful autumn landscape. Her flowing floral dress matched her peaches and cream complexion while red roses seemed to bloom in those cheeks. 

I was overwhelmed by the sudden brightening of the world due to her presence. The clear sky, blue lake, vibrant foliage, provided a fitting background to her supple form. Could such beauty exist? Was she a figment of my imagination? 

I started to write. It had been long since I wrote a word inspite of my self imposed exile in this cottage. Day after day, I had struggled with the dreaded writer’s block. But she appeared and my whole world changed.I needed to immortalise her in my work. 

A gentle knock jolted me out of my reverie. I put my pen down and peeped through the window. The damsel stood at my door…the evening sun formed a halo around her lovely head. I couldn’t believe my luck…!!

( The title has been borrowed from Lord Byron’s famous poem “She Walks in Beauty”. The great romantic age poet wrote this poem to celebrate virtuousness and beauty.)

This is my entry to the flash fiction challenge, Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers hosted by the lovely Priceless Joy. We are given a photo prompt and approximately 75-175 words with which to create our stories. This challenge is open to all who would like to participate. For more information, please CLICK HERE. Image courtesy pixabay.com

That deep inhalation of fresh air..

That day, nature invited me for a deep breath of fresh air. A lone yellow leaf entered my house and extended the loving invitation.

But there were too many other pressing invites too. There was the ipad enticing me to browse the net, and the alluring phone beeped constantly to connect and then the tv tried its best to fascinate me by playing my favourite film. And above all, there were loads of household jobs that demanded my immediate attention but I declined them all and accepted nature’s invite.

As I ran out of our apartment and inhaled deeply…every cell in my body laughed. Freshness entered my being, my eyes brightened and my skin rejuvenated.

Plump berries, wayside flowers and falling leaves greeted me. I had been breathing stale air for so long that I had forgotten what a deep breath of fresh air felt like. I took few deep breaths and wondered why I stopped appreciating the real things in life. Cuddly clouds, blue sky, yellow trees, stunning sunlight..what rare beauty! Minneapolis (USA), being the land of 10,000 lakes, offers soul soothing views throughout the year.

And the moment, I saw the glimpse of this lake amidst thick foliage – my heart sang ….

I sat on a bench browsing nature, connecting with squirrels and rabbits, entertaining myself with the vibrant natural life. How much I had missed this natural abundance! I had been taking these soul touching things for granted…it was entirely my loss.

After spending few minutes in the lap of natural splendour, I felt beautiful and revived.

I promised nature to accept its invite more often from now and got a fleeting kiss from sunrays…

Since then, I have got sucked back into the world of gadgets and stale air and not kept my promise with nature. Technology has once again claimed my life but I need to go back to nature to feel beautiful, loved and glorious.

I cherished that little stolen date with nature…for that deep inhalation of fresh air had literally taken my breath away! Hope to relive that simple yet wonderful day once again…

From the window of my house…

Whenever I manage to steal a few minutes away from my daily household chores, I take my favourite place by the couch and look out at the world that surrounds me.

I love these little private moments that make me lose myself into the world of day dreaming. I sit with that faraway look in my eyes, taking in the voluptuousness of the lush green hill and trees laden with berries. The leaves are changing colours, decking themselves for the vibrant fall season – “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness”. Little birdies alight on the tree in front of my balcony and talk of the places they have been to…I listen to their chatter and smile. The calm and the beauty of nature fills me with delight. I breathe!

I also observe people in these moments. I particularly miss the girl with red cap. Last to last year, when I was new to the US, I would always observe her through the window. She would come riding on her bicycle exuding youthful charm and spirit. Her red cap would be visible from far off. I observed that she was very easy to talk to. She would strike a conversation with anyone and everyone, laughing heartily at trifles. She was a happy soul and there was an air of sweet innocence around her. I never met her personally but established a strange kinship with her. This American girl embodied beautiful aspects of America – warm, friendly, cool and open!

I got busy after my baby was born and when I settled a bit, she was gone. She had stopped living in our locality perhaps. Well, I wished I had made acquaintance with her.

These days, I often watch groups that often get together on weekends right under my window. They happily barbecue food and chat till late hours. Then there is a lady who often comes to sit on the bench below. She reads and smokes a lot. She has a baby and I want to tell her that smoking is not the best thing to do. But then, probably, she has too much going on in her life and she finds her escape in books and cigarette.

Then there is an elderly couple who often sit in sullen silence looking around. I have not seen them interacting much. I also observe a middle aged man often shouting at someone on phone and he never looks happy.

I don’t know what are the real stories behind all these people. Probably, what I have noticed is just my perspective and perception. It might be totally incorrect. Perhaps, the girl in the red cap was not all that happy. May be the aged couple enjoy the silence between them…maybe!

Perhaps I have observed them through blurred….or foggy or dusty window or may be not. But one thing I know for sure – presumptions, assumptions and speculations can easily taint the cleanest windows to the world. So, we can never be sure of what we have seen.

This makes the ceremony of looking out of the window so very interesting and intriguing. I try to keep my window clean and open but I can never be too sure of myself. Another person may have looked at it differently.

The only thing I can say for sure is I love it every time I take my favourite seat and look out!