Keep Close to Nature's Heart...

Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away,

once in awhile, and climb a mountain or

spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.

John Muir 1838 -1914

I find that seeking out moments with nature have to be not only on her terms, but when she wants to keep her beauty close to her own heart away from prying eyes. She keeps her beauty protected for those who seek out to see it and that are there just for that moment and time.

Passing through a field, I see the plants, flowers and seeds. When I look at the woods or while walking through the woods I see the trees as a part of my life for that moment. I look at their form and shapes, their limbs and leaves as pieces of art.

As I sit in a spot I look and see everything God has provided us in our world. If you think about this a moment, as you sit there and watch the leaves fall, you are seeing in your life a moment of time that will not be repeated.

Yesterday I took a trip into McConnell Mills State Park after the big ice/snow storm pushed through. People had already adventured into the key locations before I made time to go there. But I knew a few places others wouldn't venture into and I could go there and sit and reflect on the sounds and beauty.

The storm had left behind a glass covered forest, as the trees were covered heavy with ice and snow. I sat along the river and listened to the water rush by. Knowing the ice would leave it's toll, I could hear the stress of the trees as branches could be heard crashing down.

As the wind blew ever so slightly, the sound of the cracks of branches could be heard like wood in a fireplace. The pops and cracks would sometimes be followed by big crashes, and other trees would begin to crack from the wind and sound. I sat there listening to this being played out all around me, and I was thankful to be able to go to a place where the scenery was so different from my own mountain spots of the homestead. The scenery and sounds always seem so much more defined and louder in new places as you visit them.

I left these photo's as large as I could so you can look at them and see how they make you feel. This is what I saw around me as I ventured into the park and took in all that was around me.