July 12, 2026

New Appreciation
Bozeman, Montana
2026

I rarely take color photos of flowers anymore. Maybe that’s because living in Bozeman for so long has made me a little jaded. This area has been known as the Valley of the Flowers since indigenous times, and it earns the name. After a while though, you notice them, but you don’t really see them.

But after spending all of the summer and much of the spring and fall of 2025 in the hospital, something changed. When spring returned this year, I found the simple sight of anything green and alive, especially flowers, carrying a vibrancy I don’t remember seeing in a long time — if ever. Their colors felt like the world was reminding me what a gift life is.

One of those scenes that caught my eye this spring was the ground cover the Fashion Queen tucked into the boulder wall beside our house some years ago. She planted a few sprigs and then more or less forgot about them, yet they took hold and quietly filled every gap between the rocks.

Today marks one year since my heart transplant, and like those plants, I’ve been thriving too. The difference is that the Fashion Queen didn’t treat me the way she treated the ground cover. She cared for me every single day, and still does. I’m certain I wouldn’t be here without her steady, almost stubborn devotion.

I rarely take photos of flowers anymore, and I rarely write particularly personally expressive POTD descriptions, but this year has reminded me that some moments deserve both.