It's a Wonderful Life

There are moments when I am overcome with wonder at the incredible array of life on this planet. It is simply breathtaking. Have you ever looked at the blossom on a mimosa tree? It’s a thing of beauty and so unique with its look of puffy softness, created by hundreds of tiny fingers of color reaching for the light. Or the colors and patterns on a turtle’s shell, different on each turtle. Miraculous! The variety of shades of green and blooms in our garden is mind blowing! The heck with those shades of gray, have you ever really looked at trees or the grass or a garden and seen how many shades of green there are? I think Crayola could do a box of 64 just for green.

Then there are the birds! I recently did some birding with my sisters and going through the bird identification book made me laugh. Identifying them depends upon the slightest variation in color on the head or curve in the beak or length of the legs. And it was true, there could be two white birds wading through the water in front of us and one could be a snowy egret and the other a great egret or even an immature little blue heron, and don’t even get me started on the sandpipers and dowitchers! Or take a look at trees. There are 60 species of oak trees native to the US alone each with a different shape to its leaves or a different texture to its bark. Of course, let me not forget the amazing humans in our world. Even they come in a vast assortment of skin colors and hair colors, some with freckles, some with long fingers or small feet or round bellies, all with beautiful smiles.

For me it is a joy to bear witness to the magnificent expression of life on this lovely planet. What a gift to be able to watch with wonder the bounty and beauty all around.

The Curve of a Feather

As I walked I was overwhelmed with wonder in the curve of a feather. At the end of the pond was my friend the Great Blue Heron who I see there often. He sat in the morning sun and frigid air with his feathers fluffed up for warmth. I stopped to greet him. The light of the sun caught the spray of feathers that extended from his chest, the feathers lit such that I could see each one individually. I looked at his colors and beauty and design so perfect for him and my heart swelled with joy and wonder (literally I felt like the Grinch with my heart growing three sizes). How beautiful!


I thought of the feathers on other birds I have seen and all their amazing array of colors and sizes, all serving a purpose for that bird. I thought of the different kinds of trees and how each one has a different leaf and different bark, a different way to reach for the sky. I thought about the flowers! There exists in the world such an enormous variety of flowers! Each with different petals and colors, leaves and stems. And what of all the creatures, I thought, those that crawl or run or swim or slither, with scales or skin or fur? Each of these plants, birds and animals with all they need to serve life, to live and thrive and create more life in one form or another. What a wonder that there is such immense splendor and diversity!

I was overwhelmed with joy as a stood there basking in the reflected beauty of the heron. I was filled with gratitude to have that small moment of wonder and to see the threads of life all around me as they stretched out across the earth and into the vastness of the Universe and all its mystery and majesty. What an amazing gift, I thought, to be able to be here in this moment and witness the beauty of creation in the curve of a single feather.

In Gratitude to the Great Blue