(Madisyn Taylor)
Sometimes we go through whole days without really tuning in to the beauty of nature that surrounds us. We have a habit of seeing it without really taking it in, yet once we begin to notice it, we treat ourselves to an exquisite realm of subtle, complex scents, miraculous forms, and ethereal light. The natural world enriches our entire being through the vehicles of our senses. When we are low, nature lifts our spirits. When we are tired, it rejuvenates us, if we pause long enough to drink from its beauty. If you have fallen out of the practice of taking time to observe the light as it filters through the leaves of a tree, or the concentric rings a raindrop makes as it plops into a puddle, you can retune yourself by dedicating a day to noticing the beauty in nature.
On this day, one possibility is to rise early enough to see the sunrise. Watching the sky change colours and the world emerge from darkness is an experience that will influence the whole rest of your day in ways that words cannot describe. Or simply observe the quality of the morning light as it infuses the world with its particular pale golden beauty. You may let the light play on your own hand, remembering that you are also part of the natural world. Let your intuition guide you to the elements of nature that call to you throughout the day, such as the sound of the wind as it shakes and sways a tree or the feeling of snowflakes landing on your warm eyelids and cheeks.
After you devote one day to opening your eyes more fully to the beauty of nature, you may want to make this part of your daily routine … all you have to do is pause, for just one minute, and really take it in, remembering to thank Mother Nature for her beauty.
My Thoughts:
I love nature, I love the way things are constantly changing and I love the way nothing is ever the same twice in a row … fauna, flora, animals, birds, bugs and sometime even people are all things that fascinate me.
The front of my house looks straight out across the sea to the holy isle and Arran. On a clear day the view stretches to the top of Goat Fell, at 874 metres the highest point on Arran, out along the horizon past Ailsa Craig, where the granite for curling stones is quarried, and right down as far as North Cairn, by Stranraer. Although, when the sea mists or rains descend it is often so murky that we can’t see the front gate.
Often the frost is so thick that it looks like a white winter scene, but real snow along this part of the coast is rare. Naturally Goat Fell cops for it all the time, making for very picturesque photo opportunities without even having to leave the warmth of the study.
I have cultivated the back of the house as an oasis for wildlife. The top garden is grass surrounded by bushes and trees on all four sides and is secure, to keep the dogs away allowing stoats, weasels, rodents and birds to prosper, we even have a resident fox which is more than content to laze about when the sun shines and will even happily share my lunch when I’m sitting on the swing bench.
Animals seem to trust me. The foxes out the front come to my call for supper, comfortable enough to mill about my feet as I dish the food out, birds quite often flit across my hands as I am replenishing the feeders every morning and a variety of creatures will come close enough to be photographed.