BLESSINGS OF NATURE

This time of year makes us think about what we are thankful for.  I have many blessings to be thankful for; my faith in a God who blesses me every day, my wonderful family and friends, and my love of nature.

I am so blessed to be able to sit and just take in my natural surroundings: the almost secret life of a twisty vine, grasses swishing in the wind, water flowing along under a bright blue sky. I might look like I am loafing at times, but I am very busy. I’ve spent my life studying nature and still do not know enough, except how much I love studying it.  There are so many mysteries in nature to unfold. There are so many intricate dynamics.  There are so many blessings of nature to be thankful for.

On a recent hike, I took this photo of a tiny curly vine.  How many people would walk right by and overlook this?  I found it fascinating and unique.  It reminds me of all the twists and turns in our lives, circles and spins. Nature has to deal with all the twists and turns also; outside forces that can destroy, and inside factors from just the natural life cycle of a plant. But I am so grateful I got to observe its short life because I was there.

I love to walk through prairies and forests and observe native grasses silently swaying in the wind.  Sometimes I sit for hours in a remote place just to absorb the beauty and wonder. There is nothing more rewarding than watching the feathery seeds of little blue stem sparkling in the sun.  I am thankful that I got observe this beauty because I was there.

Water is also very important to my well-being.  I love hiking along a beautiful stream or floating along in my kayak.  The sounds of nature are all around you, but the gurgling, swishing, bubbling water sounds can put my soul to rest.  I try to capture these moments with my camera, but cannot really do it justice.  Still, I am thankful I got to take the shot because I was there.

We all have so much to be thankful for, yet it seems we only really think about it at this time of year.  My challenge to myself this next year is to think of something to be thankful for every day, and to find a way to express that gratefulness both to my creator and to those around me who make my life so good.

A DROP OF DEW

"What Youth deemed crystal, Age finds out was dew."  

                                                           -Robert Browning

There are many things in the world that can make you feel small: a big train barreling toward you, the Grand Canyon, a photograph of the universe.  Today while I was out photographing flowers, it was a drop of dew.  A single drop of dew made me feel small.

Through the camera lens, the drop of dew looked isolated and cool.  I began to think about my place in the world and how important, or unimportant, I am.  What have I contributed to the world?  What have been my great accomplishments?  What difference have I made?

It’s easy to feel down when you have been sick, and maybe this is why I began questioning myself today.  After all, the cancer that I am trying to expel from my body right now with chemo therapy started as a minute single cell.  Having a disease like cancer can make you feel very small and alone. 

When I think of a drop of dew, and how small it is compared to all the water in the world, it is easy to equate that to how small each of us is compared to the universe.  But everything in the world has a size and a place.  Everything is connected.  Everything has a purpose. 

Instead if considering the smallness of the drop of dew, 

I began to think about how one drop of water can fall from that leaf into a puddle on the ground.  Then that puddle can flow into a creek, the creek into a river, and the river into the sea.  The sea is full of tiny drops of water, each one necessary to the whole.  We are all necessary. 

With my camera, I try to capture the beauty of all of nature and share it with others.  And that is enough for me to be a necessary part of this planet.  I hope I never stop trying to present the beauty I see all around me and that I am forever thankful for a God that created each drop of dew that sat on a leaf, fell into a puddle, and eventually flowed into the sea.