Dying tulips

I will always remember the former receptionist at work, Jerri, who loved flowers. She usually had a vase of flowers at her desk in the lobby. That is not so unusual, but what was unusual is that she particularly liked to keep tulips on her desk long after most other people would have thrown them away. She said she thought they were almost more beautiful as the petals curled and turned dark than when new and intact, and she even kept the fallen petals around the base of the vase. It sounds odd, but I came to see what she meant.

So this morning I took a photo of a pink tulip just beginning to die, in the early morning light.

And a red tulip in the same imperfect but very interesting state.

Then tonight I went back outside and shot some photos in the dark, using flash. This was interesting because I couldn't see what I was aiming at very well at all, and the results were a big surprise.

The red tulip has decayed quite a bit since this morning, and also has taken on a new kind of beauty. Thank you, Jerri, for opening my eyes.