This trek was taken six weeks ago, back on Saturday, May 1st, the first day of the virtual “Tulip Time Run/Walk With a Twist” event. “Tulip Time” is an annual event that takes place in Holland, Michigan, about three hours from my home. Out-of-town tourists and Michiganders alike flock to this venue annually in early May to view the 4½ million tulips found in parks and around town. I hope to visit one day, whether to just gawk at the beautiful blooms or participate in the on-site run/walk event.
My 5K trek took me tiptoeing AROUND the tulips, rather than THROUGH them, which might have left angry neighbors shaking their fists and/or vicious dogs chasing me down. Below are some of the images captured during my virtual 5K walk which began at my home and took me along my regular route through the ‘hood …
… then just one loop at Council Point Park. On the way home I made a quick detour to Memorial Park and stopped at the Green Team’s volunteer gardens where a host of orange tulips awaited me …
After completing the 3.2 mile/5K trek, I hopped in the car and went to the River to log a few miles more and look for animated seagulls.
That day in early May was Mother Nature’s version of Spring at its finest … the grass was still lush and the blooms were colorful and perky. Since then, we’ve slowly come to realize the moderate drought prediction by our local meteorologists on the first day of Spring has come to fruition. The sun’s searing and unforgiving temps, oppressive humidity and dew points have made this season zero fun. It’s been a roller coaster of hot and cold temps, mostly hot and the weather, coupled with the computer debacle at work (not to mention the freakish and whopping 1.1K SPAM comments over a couple of days’ time at this blog site – grrr), have all left my energy and spirits zapped and I’ve fallen hopelessly behind here with my WordPress family and everything else in my daily life. Though I have walked regularly and taken tons of pictures, I have excursions from four or five treks I’ve never even looked at – perhaps over 4th of July weekend. In the meantime, I still have many pictures to share from late April and early May.
Below is my race swag – the black tee-shirt was an optional purchase, so I just got the bib, finisher medal and a buff.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
The tulips were lovely. Isn’t it marvelous to have the photos long after the blooms are gone?
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I thought they were lovely too Anne. I like tulips and I had monitored them on my daily walks to get the maximum beauty potential for this post since they all did not bloom at once … we never had them here at the house. A lot of bulbs were planted the first year we lived here and in the Spring, while my father was doing yard clean-up, he discovered 99% of his bulbs had been dug up and half-chewed, then discarded by the squirrels. One bulb was not touched and used to annoyingly come up underneath a tree … lots of tenacity for that solo yellow tulip.
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Tulips are so pretty
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I know – and they bloom and drop their petals way too soon don’t they? Hope you are doing well Eliza. Sorry to hear that the UK lockdown is likely not going to be lifted soon, but extended due to this newest variant. Stay safe.
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Sending hugs
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And returning them to you too Ellie! {{{ }}}
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I would love to visit Holland, Michigan (or Holland in Europe) for tulip time. I have seen the photos of rows and rows of tulips – beautiful! You did a great job of capturing the tulips closer to home. I love tulips – I think I appreciate them because they signal warmer weather is on the way.
Nice race swag, Linda. I used a buff instead of a mask sometimes this winter – it was easier to pull up and down when I ran. I hope our time of wearing a mask is coming to an end, though.
So sorry about your spam issues.
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Me too – I would like to see those tulips too. So many different varieties and they plan the festival around peak bloom time. Thank you – having walked that same route since 2013, I knew just where to go for peak pictures. You see tulips and it signals warmer weather – I see the crocuses and hear the Red-Winged Blackbird and have a sigh of happiness.
This is my first buff Laurie and I never knew what one was until you and Bill had a Winter event one time and you mentioned a buff, so I think I Googled it. It is a soft material like a jersey.
I contacted WordPress when the SPAM was growing in leaps and bounds. I was given directions to thwart it, but was swamped with the computer issue at work, so I wrote back and said I would do it on the weekend when I had more time and explained what happened and he fixed it for me. I have weird issues here at WP sometimes.
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I love all the colors. Brightens a day.
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Yes, they are Sandra – I wish they lasted longer. Sometimes we get a windy day after the tulips bloom and they petals fall off.
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I love tulips but unfortunately so do the deer in my area. I was rewarded with 3 hot pink tulips in my new yard. Lovely and the deer did not find them!
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Those deer!! Someone in the Facebook neighborhood forum took some pictures of a deer running down the street by the park where I walk daily (one mile from my house). This park is right in the middle of a busy residential area. On weekends I drive miles and miles to see deer at the big parks and rarely see them, then they are meandering around the ‘hood. I’m surprised hot pink tulips stayed hidden. My father planted tulip bulbs the first year we moved here in ’66. In the Spring he found the bulbs all around the yard, half chewed by the squirrels. He was not a happy camper.
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Yep, squirrels are the other culprits!
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Good thing they are so cute but that’s very annoying. I’ve been feeding one at the house again, despite not wanting to because of the hawks that got my last group. But he begged and followed me around all the time and is getting more comfortable with me, so I’m going to do a post on him as soon as I get some clear shots. It was all good when he took the peanuts to go, but now he is digging holes in the yard. I point and say “no – mustn’t do this” but I think that reinforcing behavior trick is only good for dogs.
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You’re lucky to find so many beautiful tulips this spring. We have no luck with them.
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Yes, there are many tulips around this neighborhood Eilene. After the squirrels dug up all the tulip bulbs my father planted in 1966, that was the end of any type of bulb at this house. 🙂
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Your tulips are wonderful, Linda! I have some planted and appreciate that they come up every spring. A few years ago I visited a tulip farm near here and it was spectacular. I had planned going back last year but we all know what happened. Having beautiful flowers and lively critters sure brighten your walks! 🙂
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Yes, it a gorgeous walk for me, especially in Spring as there are many flowering trees too. I once took pictures of all the flowering trees to do a post, but my shots did not do them justice as there is too much background clutter to showcase those trees. But we have some magnolia trees that take up an entire lawn. I went to the house that I featured with the stone frogs last year – they had all the frog yard art, plus many ceramic frogs. No grass, just ivy ground cover in their front/side yards. They are living in a corner house. The tulips were gorgeous last year, but the variety of tulips were not in bloom yet, so I didn’t include them in the post. They were all delicate pink – so pretty.
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Sometimes when you look up through the canopy you’ll discover the beauty of the trees and don’t see everything around them. Pink tulips are a classic! 🙂
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That is very true Sabine. That one pink tulip had been watered and was bending down from the weight of the water on it and it made it look so delicate.
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I have never been to Holland either – maybe someday. As you know we can’t grow tulips (deer candy) at the farm so my husband found some in small pot at the farm store this spring and I put them in bigger pots and put the in the bed next to our deck. Once the leaves are completely brown I’m going to store them in the pots in the barn and see if they come back next spring.
I had about 3 days straight where I was bombarded with spam. I just deleted them all but it stopped after those 3 days. Maybe you got it fixed for me too. 🙂
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I could see how the deer would be attracted to these colorful flowers, especially after a long Winter – (“oh good, lots of colorful flowers to munch on!) I hope that works out for you over the Winter Ruth. At least they are protected in the barn. When I got all that SPAM, it was growing in leaps and bounds and all from the same or similar domains and the very long messages too. So I reached out to the Happiness Engineers and one of them blocked it for me (he gave me instructions how to do it, then came back and just did it himself).
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I’d like to visit Holland MI someday too as I love tulips…..so even though the season is over and always way to short it’s still nice to look at the vibrant colors. I’m liking those orange ones too even though it’s not my color scheme.
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It is supposed to be gorgeous there … imagine seeing all those tulips at one time! They really don’t last long. The orange ones were nice and I don’t see many that color around in home gardens. I stopped at the volunteer gardens today but only a few roses were out. I don’t think they planted Lantana this year – too bad as it brought lots of butterflies.
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I think they’re called parrot tulips, but they wouldn’t go with my color scheme.
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They do look bright like a parrot’s colors. No, you have more pastels and they’d clash with your roses.
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Miss Linda……………………………..I haven’t been to Holland……………………It would have been nice to go there………………………..now I don’t need to………. because you filled me up with a large variety of beautiful tulips………………….so thank you ……………………………..
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Glad you liked the tulips Ann Marie – I saw these on my daily walk and luckily there were no wind storms so they remained in place. I’d like to visit Holland too someday.
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The Tulip like the daffodil is a humble flower……not pretentious like those fancy Lily’s!
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Yes, you’re right – you can always count on them to come up every Spring too. Other flowers are like cats: fickle!
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Congratulations on completing your 5K “Tulip Time Run/Walk With a Twist”! You had plenty of lovely tulips to enjoy locally and hopefully you can look forward to participating with others in Holland next year. 4½ million tulips! It must be a sight to see. We have a daffodil festival in Connecticut, but no tulip events that I know of. I love the 3rd and 4th pictures — that shade of pink is perfect! 🙂
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Thank you – it was fun, even if a virtual event. I would love to see the tulip festival in Holland. I tried to get a nice selection of colors. A daffodil festival sounds like it would be colorful and a lot of fun.
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Beautiful photos, Linda! Such lovely colors!
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Thanks Rebecca – their beauty is so fleeting unfortunately.
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Tulips come and go quickly. Daffodils are in it for the long haul, but tulips like the pretty ones you photographed seem to drop their petals and be gone. I misread your race swag and thought it said “turtle time.” Wondered what kind of race that’d be, until I realized my mistake.
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Yes, tulips’ beauty is so fleeting Ally. I don’t have them here at my house as my father planted some in 1966 and the squirrels dug them up and chewed on them so no more tulips here. I usually only do 5K charity races, but I thought this looked interesting.
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Congratulations on your 5K and the flowers are so pretty!
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Thanks Diane. Lots of homes in the neighborhood have tulips and other Spring perennials. Walking the same route since I discovered the Park in 2013, I’ve come to know what homes have what Spring flowers – one home always has Snowdrops, sometimes in early March. I have one more 5K to write about … I did it Memorial Day weekend but the tee-shirt and finishing medal was not available until last Sunday. I’m behind in sorting through pictures, so it might be a few more weeks to publish it. The last few years I’ve done the Mutt Strut to raise money for a no-kill animal shelter, but they’ve moved it to September and it won’t be virtual. I think I’m going to pass and just do it next year. I’ve gotten my two shots, but want to be careful and stay away from big crowds.
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Smart lady!
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Tulips are beautiful but so short lived! I would love to visit the annual “Tulip Time” event. I wonder how much work and dedication it takes to pull off an event like that.
Your walking stats are impressive and it’s great that you incorporate it into your life seamlessly. Love the swag!
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I know Esther – one windy day, or a pelting rainstorm and the petals are off the tulips until the following season. That’s a shame when it happens. I would like to visit Holland as well. I was in Solvang years ago when I took the California tour. I don’t remember much about it except for the big windmill, but it was October, so I doubt they had any tulips in bloom. Thank you – I have to add up all my miles before next week as I usually post a total every quarter. I have one more 5K to report on for Fish & Loaves food pantry. It was virtual like the other two. The dog event for a no-kill shelter; this year it will be live so not signing up.
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That’s what makes tulips special! Gosh, it would be nice if they stuck around longer.
I know Solvang. I visited a few times and ate at their famous pea soup restaurant. Didn’t stay there long to explore but a resting stop from southern to northern CA. Have you been to the Hearst Castle over there? The only place I saw a gold toilet.
I wonder how many miles you logged this quarter! So good about keeping records of them. If I did that I would have to use a Fitbit.
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Yes, tulips are gone so quickly Esther. They’re like the magnolia tree/bush and the blossoms. A brisk wind will scatter them everywhere. Solvang and Heart Castle was part of our 10-day California coast bus trip. I don’t think we ate in Solvang. We did see Heart Castle. I don’t remember a gold toilet but I remember a large swimming pool – that sticks out in my mind for some reason. And an area where spare bathing suits were kept. Didn’t they preserve that swimming pool area as is?
I have to figure out my mileage before next Wednesday. I have it written down in the computer, on a calendar, on a notepad. It was like that for March 31st too. Someone asked me and I said I was not together and would have to add them up. I used to be so organized. Had a small spiral notebook. Came home and dutifully put my mileage walked in it every day. Now I have to scramble around. I usually try to have half the miles done when half the year is over because, just as I can’t count on January, February and early March for regular walks, after October 15th, it is not always a sure thing either. We sometimes get black ice on the perimeter path as early as mid-October and with the wet leaves flying around … it’s dicey sometimes. I do have a pedometer, but most every day I have the same route (except weekends when I go to larger parks). So I know how many miles to/from and the loop is one mile too, so I just count loops. I’ve had the pedometer since I began walking in 2011. It’s got a lot of mileage on it too!
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That tour company was thorough to cover all the major tourist spots on the California Coast! I remember the Hearst Castle pool as well: expansive and artistic. Personally, that place gives me the creeps: maybe because I visited when I was a kid.
You must’ve gotten the pedometer when it just hit the markets. I remember a friend’s friend telling me he was working for a start up pedometer company like in 2010. Technology is moving and changing quickly!! This techno dino is trying to catch up.
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There was something ornate or over-the-top or something about the pool and I can’t remember. They were a good tour company and I think based in Michigan. Very thorough and had a nice tour guide throughout the trip. I did order the pedometer and padded socks (Thorlo walking socks) the first year I walked (2011). My pedometer is made by Omron who make blood pressure monitors. I researched it and they don’t make that model anymore, but when I need a new one, I’ll get another Omron. I bought it from The Pedometer Superstore (pedometersusa.com). I got a “leash” for it too, so it never comes unclipped, though the clip is very sturdy. I’ve never had a smart watch, or Fit Bit and I was mad as my flip phone was 3G and AT&T made me upgrade it to 4G, which cost me $105.00 for a new flip phone that was comparable and I only use it for emergencies. I just had to upgrade it from 2G to 3G a couple of years ago.
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Same here with the weather – the tulips were here and gone before we could enjoy them much. OMG – that’s a LOT of spam you got. I hope you were able to fix your settings to stop them? Your computer issues have been quite the pain this year, I feel for you and hope they get resolved soon! PS – rain and cooler temps may be on your way soon. We’re getting both today and it feels kind of nice.
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They finally stopped thankfully – it was crazy. At the same time as at work – bad timing. Then the captions issue. I thought it was just me who couldn’t do the captions but other people were mentioning it too, then suddenly the ability to create captions returned. We are getting three or four days of cooler weather – yay! I’d like to jump ahead past this severe weather tonight and I am ready for some moderate weather. I went out two mornings last week before work to larger parks just because the weather was so nice and cool.
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That’s great they stopped. Computer issues are frustrating. WP issues make it even worse!
Yay for more enjoyable weather. I look forward to seeing what adventures you take!
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I’m getting out as much as possible during these beautiful cooler days. I’ve got to sort through a ton of photos over the 4th of July.
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YAY! 🙂 ❥💕💚
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what a fun event and the little medal is a keeper
also, your tulip photos made quite a nice gallery – well done
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Thanks Yvette – I have one more 5K to write about, probably in the next few weeks.
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🚶♀️🤍🌸
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what beautiful blooms!!
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