Last year, Denise Ellsworth spoke at the Heritage Garden about the bees she had found there that day—the plants drawing them in, what they were doing, and the small details that are easy to miss unless you stop long enough to notice.

I had the good fortune of following her that day through the garden.

It was one of the most mesmerizing days I’ve had with my camera. Denise gave her time freely, stopping to explain what was happening as we moved from flower to flower. I listened, asked questions, and tried to take in as much as I could. It was an outdoor lesson from someone who knows the landscape intimately, but what stayed with me most was the way she looked at it.

Denise is an Ohio treasure. Not simply because of what she knows, but because she takes the time to share it.

That experience eventually led me to Guy Denny’s Prairie in Knox County for ONAPA’s Native Bee Discovery Experience. Kelly Capuzzi and Susan Moore led the program, and once again I found myself in the best possible position, listening and learning. There were bees to identify, plants to examine, questions to ask, and plenty of time to simply be outside with people who know their way around this world.

And it was fun.

I came away from the prairie with more questions than answers, which I’m beginning to think is a pretty good measure of a day spent learning.

The following week, I returned to the Heritage Garden and spent two days in its Pollinator Garden. I wasn’t trying to photograph every bee I could find or turn the visit into a checklist. I was simply trying to pay attention.

For two mornings, I never left the Pollinator Garden.

The prairie in Knox County and the Pollinator Garden at the Heritage Garden are different places, but for me they became part of the same lesson: slow down, look carefully, put yourself in a place to learn, and the world has a way of showing you what you’ve been missing.