Beautiful Things

Blessed are those who see beautiful things

in humble places where others would

see nothing.

~ Camille Pissarro

One of the reasons I am very excited about teaching Kindergarten, this Fall, is that I will be able to discover things, again, for the first time. Children have a unique sense of wonder that we often lose by the time we are adults. None of my own children are kindergarteners, anymore, but they are still in the "child" phase of life. 

Last week, while doing some local exploring, my 9-year-old picked up this pine cone and said, "Mom, look how cool this is! Can you please take a picture?" I had to agree that it was a very cool find, indeed. And, like a true discoverer of wonder, I took out my camera and captured the moment for him. What a beautiful creation a pine cone is. Do you stop to enjoy pine cones? I once made a nut and pine cone wreath to hang on my front door at Christmastime. The only problem with that was that the local squirrels thought I was providing them a scrumptious buffet, and I had to take my creation down early. Christmas cheer!

This flower is fascinating. I will have to look up what it is called, but they were growing like weeds where we walked the other day. As I walked passed, the splash of orange caught my eye and I crouched down for a better look, and of course, for a picture (or 3!)

I love reflections. I took about 15 shots of this guy because he kept turning his head. I was more concerned about the perfect reflection than what the actual elk looked like!

Shadows are another fascinating concept. Anytime I see a shadow of a child, the song "Me And My Shadow" runs through my head!

We were driving home from the lake, the other night, and the moon was incredible! I made my husband pull over TWICE for pictures. I pushed for a third time, when the moon was so perfectly sitting atop the snow covered Mt. Baker, but there wasn't a safe place to pull over, so I didn't get that shot. I will just have to keep that image tucked away in my mind.

Big things, small things, everything in between - when you take the time to look, you will see beauty in everyday things. The petals on a flower, the intricacy of the flower's centre, the face of the Man in the Moon - all of these give testimony to the great God we serve.

 For since the creation of the world 

God’s invisible qualities

—his eternal power and divine nature—

have been clearly seen, 

being understood from what has been made, 

so that people are without excuse.

~Romans 1:20