Appreciating Natural Beauty

One of the things we don’t do enough in modern life is spend time outside. By that, I mean spending copious amounts of time outside soaking in the wonder of creation and the restorative power of fresh air, sunshine, and even rain. We took some time to do that recently, and managed to get some photographs worth sharing.

A recent practice of mine is to resist the modern tendency to allow the camera to distract me from beautiful moments. My husband and kids are not so afflicted, so most credit for the vacation photos belongs to them. The first is one of my favorites taken from within Antelope Canyon in the Navajo Nation of Arizona.

The next is from a higher elevation. I took a few challenging hikes, by that I mean a Florida gal who lives at sea level found them more challenging than some might. By the third day, I was hiking like a champ, but the first two days were tough.

This was Horseshoe Bend, another spectacular view:

We’ll round this out with another underground shot:

It’s still pretty warm down here, but when you know what to look for, you notice the subtle shift and the edge coming off the heat. It’s becoming much more tolerable, and I’m already finding it easy to sit outside for longer periods, even at mid day. Those of you in seasonal climates should be out enjoying fall.

So get outside and enjoy nature!

Partly inspired by Will S.

Life Away from the Web…

…has been interesting. This man:

Who has spent literally 62% of his life with me, loving me far more than I’ve deserved, turned 50. It seemed to call for a special kind of celebration, so our entire family hit the road. Well, first we hopped a plane, and then we hit the road.

For eight days, we hiked around the Southwestern U.S., then came home and crashed for three days after that. On Sunday night I picked up my phone to do something other than answer student or parent emails, respond to texts from family and friends, or admire the hundreds if not thousands of pictures we took along the way. Here is what I learned upon re-engaging with the world (unfortunately very little of this is new information):

• We are ruled by evil people
• People in the inner city like to shoot each other over the weekends
• Celebrities have a hard time staying married
• Conservatives suck as much as leftists
• Right wing men can be as silly as left wing women (ask me why and I’ll tell you)

Good things I learned while I was away from the web:

• Man, do we have a great church! We visited one while on the road and thought, “Wait. What did we just attend?”
• I liked myself a LOT more, which is saying something because I’m generally okay with me.
• My husband’s adventurous spirit is a kinda contagious and keeps things interesting.
• Lastly (and highly relevant to this blog), Hearthrose has written a very enjoyable new book. I read most of it on the plane and I am really liking it. Be on the lookout for my review of Leaving Laodicea by week’s end.

Fall is almost here! That actually means very little to us here in the Sunshine State, but at least the holidays are approaching.