For Earth Day this year, I spent the day with a friend and her family on their farm. Her grandson calls it going ‘into nature’ and I decided that it was, indeed, going into nature to spend the day outside, reveling in the beauty all around us.
They have baby ducks, so I spent a considerable amount of time watching the antics of those fluffy little balls of down. When they are larger, they will be put out onto the pond. I also inspected the inhabitants of the rabbitry, the nannies and kids in the goat pen, the new calf safely sequestered in the barn, the sundry mules and horses, as well as the barn cats and guard dogs.
The owners of this homestead have a lot to do just to keep all the four-legged creatures fed and happy. But last year they endeavored to become more self-sufficient by planting a huge garden. It was a success and they have added to the acreage this year.
It was a wonderful, relaxing day being in nature. And as I drove home, rushing along in the fast-moving traffic, moving frantically to get from one place to another, I glanced out the window and realized something. I was passing by some pretty incredible sights. I slowed down. I didn’t need to keep up with traffic. I was in no rush to get home.
What I saw was an incredible array of colors swirling over the hillsides; the dark green of cedars, yellow buds of trees whose leaves were just popping out, the purple of redbuds, the large white blossoms of dogwoods nestled in the understory. There were the deep burgundies of red clover along the sides of the highway and the sunshiny gold of forsythias that had gone wild. Where new vivid-green grass was emerging, the color was so bright it almost hurt the eye with its brilliance.
It was a lovely drive home. Mother Nature rewarded me with a spectacular view of her handiwork, and I was happy to have slowed down and appreciated it. Tomorrow it will have changed and be a different picture.
I hope you enjoyed your Earth Day. Hopefully, you went out into nature and reveled in her beauty.
We so much enjoyed you being here and loved getting into nature with you!