Too often nature’s miraculous behavior exceeds my limited ability to convey such miracles, whether through words or images.
For instance, this unassuming flower, shown larger than life, begins as a simple stalk, with a very simple leaf gradually jutting out from the end of each stalk. When the leaf reaches a certain length, however, multiple clusters of dark purple pods begin to emerge from the juncture of the leaf and stem, much like an ear of Indian corn.
Amazingly, those purple pods turn to small but beautiful flowers throughout the rest of the summer.
Perhaps time-lapse photography could better reveal this miraculous transformation from plain stalk to flower, but I find simple images like this incapable of conveying the plant’s uniqueness, much as a photographic images too often seem unable to reveal the unique beauty of the people we love most.