The Artist in Our Soul Part 3

Growing up,

 I was privileged to live in a wonderfully sunny, south Florida area, 

with the ocean very close on one hand

 and
 orange groves, horse farms and dairy ranches all about.

Sort of suburban, sort of rural . . . 

After marrying, I migrated to my dream destination

 in the verdant mountains of North Carolina.
There I was enveloped in centuries old first growth forest, pine needles, moss and ferns.

Now in the front range of Colorado with access to the Rocky Mountains . . .

 I have to say
 I've led a blessed life.

I've truly lived in some of the

  most
 incredible places on earth.

We know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder,

 and 

we're as happy as we choose to be . . . 

but I can honestly tell you that I've found each of these places to be awesomely beautiful!

There is something to be said for the habit of finding contentment in one's surroundings.

God's creation  
with its' harmony and scale is the basis of beauty to my eye.

I could gaze at the ocean or the mountains forever and not tire of the view.
I delight in sunrises and sunsets, full moons and rain storms.

I have a collection of seashells, beach glass, driftwood, river rocks,
bird feathers, abandoned bird nests, porcupine quills,
 turtle shells, ostrich eggs,
 fossils, arrowheads,
 twigs . . .
pressed four leaf clovers, queen anne's lace, violets . . .
 and every wonderful thing I find when I go hiking.
These are more than mementos . . .
  they speak to my heart.

My grandchildren will visit next weekend, and  

one of their pleasures 

when the weather is nice 

is to take

 a 

nature walk 

with

 Mimi.

We generally walk around the neighborhood to see what we can of nature.

There are rocks to pocket and bird feathers to gather, wild flowers and leaves to collect.

We take note of the "cloud pictures", what's in bloom and the sunshine and shadows.

If the weather is warm, we have a place where we remove our shoes and socks, and wiggle our toes in the cool green grass - just to enjoy the sensation of free toes.
We even stop to watch creepy crawly things in the dirt.

Last summer strong winds blew tumbleweed all around my place.  

My 5 year old grandson collected them for hours, piling them against the house where they would be protected from the wind. 

He stocked the porch with a hundred of them, and when I protested
 that 1000 tumbleweeds were enough,
 he offered to share them with neighbors who were outside.

Most of them graciously accepted his bouquets.

To this day,
 I have tumbleweeds decorating my antiques booth at
The Gallery,
because he insisted I should take them to the shop
 and sell them to people who didn't have tumbleweeds!
Cute Kid!  I like the way he thinks!

He was mesmerized with the beauty of these natural elements.

I hope I can inspire
 my little ones
 to enjoy collecting specimens of nature.
It's never too early to begin
  examining the bounty
all around us.
To see the perfection of the Creator's artwork
 is to begin to appreciate and understand
 true beauty,

and to find the
artist
 in our soul