Wild Iris on the Mesa Trail, Boulder Colorado

I thought about my grandmother while I was out running today. I think about her often. We just lost her last year, she was 102. I was 51. How fortunate I have been to have her in my life for so long! My magical Gram has had a special place in my heart for as long as I can remember.....

The Mesa Trail is one of my favorite trail runs, and this is its best season. Wild flowers are just coming out, the mud is drying up, and the temperature is right in my ultimate comfort zone - 75ºF. The winter chill and howling wind are giving us a break, at least for today.

I saw a black bear near the trail, just standing there, totally ignoring me. I was too overwhelmed to think of getting my phone out and taking the bear's picture.

This patch of wild iris was on the trail that I took to avoid meeting the bear again (just in case). It moved me enough to remember that I had a camera with me (my cell phone).

As I continued on the run after taking the picture, I imagined telling Gram "I saw some beautiful wild iris today while I was out jogging, so I took a picture with my phone to send you in an email." In the century of Gram's life, she saw the world change a lot. I visualized her as a young woman in the early 20th century, hearing me say that. Her reaction would probably be: "you were doing what? and took a what?? with your WHAT??? to send me a WHAT????"

Things that are a commonplace part of my everyday life, were not even in her vocabulary! She grew up on a family farm. They got so much exercise in the course of daily life that the concept of "jogging" just for "exercise" would sound ridiculous! The telephone and camera had been invented, yes, but they were cumbersome and expensive, and not something that people used every day. Sitting for a photograph took all day, and the telephone was just for emergencies, like a birth or a death in the family. Definitely not the sort of thing that a person on foot would have in her back pocket while out in the woods. The internet, and digital images, were not even thought of yet!

Thinking about what changed in our world in Gram's 102 years makes me wonder what changes we will see during my own life. I hope I am blessed with a long life, because I'm eager to see what wonders are revealed in these next 50 years!