Walking in circles...

I had this strange dream the other night...
I was wandering around the Denver Botanic Garden looking for the perfect flower.
The problem was...
I had absolutely no idea what the perfect flower was.
I mean, what flower should I call "perfect" and finally end my search?
I had no idea.
So I kept walking in circles, with this strange feeling that I would simply know when I found it. I would see it... and somehow understand.

Well, this one wasn't it. And don't ask me why.

 

As it often happens in dreams, the colors were incredibly vivid and the sparkling light was almost blinding. 

Everything looked brighter and more beautiful than it ever does in real life.

And yet I kept walking.

I knew I hadn't found what I was looking for.

Then I realized... I wasn't only looking for a flower.

I was looking for everything.

And at the same time... nothing looked right.

So I kept walking.

Look at this beautiful hummingbird! Isn't it gorgeous?

Well...apparently not gorgeous enough.

I continued my search. 

What exactly was the perfect flower? 

Was it one that was just beginning to open, still keeping its secret?

Or one that had already opened completely and proudly displayed all its beauty?

I couldn't decide.

And somehow, neither one was good enough.

Maybe I wasn't looking for a single flower after all.

That thought suddenly appeared in my mind.

Maybe the perfect flower was actually a perfect group of flowers...

...a whole cluster of blooms working together to create something greater than any single flower could?

And then, almost immediately, I changed my mind.

I turned around...

...and I was looking for a single flower again.

Isn't this one beautiful?

I thought so too.

But... obviously not perfect.

Maybe it was all about the color?

White and pink were too ordinary.

Too predictable.

What about bold purple?

Hmm...

They were stunning, there was no question about that.

But somehow they still didn't fit the bill.

I turned my attention away from the water, and a damselfly caught my eye.

For a second, I thought perhaps this was what I had been looking for.

But it couldn't hold my attention for more than a moment.

I turned back toward the Monet Pond and started examining the water lilies again.

Maybe this one?

No.

That one?

No.

These?

Sure not.

Another?

Still no.

None of them looked quite right in this strange dream.

None could stop me from wandering farther in search of absolute perfection.

So I kept going...

...in circles...

...chasing a dream of perfection.

I know what you're thinking.

"A dream about a dream?"

And yes...

It sounds completely crazy.

But it was only a dream!

Give me some slack. ;)

Not this hummingbird.

Not these lilies.

Not the purple ones.

Not the red ones.

Not even the pink ones.

Maybe a lotus?

Surely the lotus could finally stop this increasingly feverish dream.

Nope.

I looked closer...

...and my eyes slipped down the flower until they stopped on a dragonfly clinging to the stem.

Interesting.

Beautiful.

But...

...not what I was looking for.

What a pity.

More water lilies.

Each one looked absolutely beautiful.

And yet none of them was perfect.

More lotuses.

Oh boy...

I hate dreams like this.

You know the kind.

You desperately need to find something, but you don't even know what that something is.

You just know you haven't found it yet.

By now I was becoming almost feverish.

Sometimes my vision blurred and everything became hazy and unclear.

But even when everything came back into focus, nothing changed.

I stopped beside a beautiful pink water lily.

I looked at it carefully.

It was gorgeous.

But I wasn't satisfied.

So I walked on.

And on.

And on.

For what seemed like hours, I wandered in circles around the pond, becoming more and more exhausted while still not finding whatever it was I needed to find.

You know those endless dreams, don't you?

The ones where you keep doing the same thing over and over and somehow never get anywhere?

Well... How did this one end? You probably want to know.

It ended just as strangely as it had started.

I was circling the pond for what must have been the tenth time when, suddenly...

...I saw it.

A stunning pink lotus.

Something about it was different.

Something about this flower made me stop.

For the first time that night, I thought:

"This might be it."

I leaned closer.

I wanted to examine every petal.

I wanted to make sure.

Was this finally the perfect flower?

Was this the one I had been searching for all night?

I was just about to find out...

...when the alarm went off.

The dream shattered like a mirror.

And I woke up.

Just like that.

No answer.

No perfect flower.

Nothing.

And even now, a week later, I still don't know what happened.

Maybe I finally found the perfect flower...

...and the alarm simply didn't let me see it.

Or maybe it slipped away at the very last second...

...and is still somewhere in the garden, waiting for me to find it.

I guess there is only one way to find out.

I'll have to go back.

And keep walking in circles. ;)

Thanks to ChatGPT for helping me to turn my surreal and feverish dream into this surreal and feverish story ;)  

Photos taken on August 01, 2026.