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“The purpose of our lives is to be happy”
~The Dalai Lama
Judy and I have been blessed with the opportunity to travel and witness many beautiful views;
a beautiful sunset over Paris from the Eiffel Tower, the romance of Trevi Fountain in Rome, the awesomeness of the glaciers in College Fjord in Alaska, the reverence of St. Peter’s Basilica, or the grace of a gondola skimming through a canal in Venice. But there is beauty, simple beauty, around us every day of our lives.
One of my most beautiful experiences occurred back in the 90’s when I drove my twins to Lancaster County, PA for a Bible quizzing competition. We stayed in various homes throughout the county. The next morning, the sunshine resonated an early morning wake- up call off newly fallen snow. For those of you that might not know, Lancaster County is Amish country. So that morning, I drove around the countryside.
The black barns, black buggies, and black-clad Amish farmers formed a stark, but beautiful, silhouette against the pristine cottony blanket.
Another “work of art” I often enjoy is occasionally, just outside my window, a writing spider, often called a garden spider, decides to weave his intricate patterns. At times, there will be dew on the spider web, and the sun rises immediately behind it, making the web sparkle. I have no doubt the writing spider has written, “Gee, it’s going to be a beautiful day.” I have a wonderful picture of this, but I am not going to post it, because if you guys are half the arachnophobia my wife is, I’d lose half my readers to a heart attack. So, if you would like to see the picture, then e-mail me and I’ll send it to you.
Judy and I no longer enjoy long, cold, snow-filled winters. But we both enjoy the first snow of the year. We fire up our gas logs, open up the curtains, fix us some hot chocolate, cut off the lights, and just watch the snow fall. The added feature is the birds attracted to my feeders. (Then we pack our bags and take off for Myrtle Beach before the second snow hits.)
So my challenge to you today is to find one simple thing of beauty, and post a reply telling me what it is.
[…] Seeing Beauty in the Simple Things […]