Beauty is where you LOOK for it

I LOVED living in Oregon.  

The trees and greenery and flowers and beauty are everywhere.  You can see retail stores on one side of the street and a forest on the other!  One of my favorite parks called Rood Bridge Park had a few miles of paved and unpaved trails, tons of trees, creek with a running stream and little bridges, dense forest, open grass, pavilion, and playground.  It was just so cool.  I did a lot of my runs when training for my first 5k at that park.  Great for bike rides, cub scout pack meetings, easter egg hunts, photo shoots, and catching tadpoles in the pond.  I couldn’t imagine leaving such a place.  

One of the houses we lived in was right next to a thicket of 50+ foot tall pine trees.  When our windows were open, the birds and sounds we’d hear made us feel like we lived in the forest.

The view here in Utah is different.  
It’s not as green or lush, and not near as many trees.  

However, the mountains are tall and stellar and stand like sentinel guards surrounding the valleys.  They are breathtakingly gorgeous.  One can peer from one end of the valley clear to the other.  The sky is so blue and so close, it feels like you can reach up and touch it.  And there are rocks.  Carved, chiseled, and enamored with colors; there are so many rocks in every size you can imagine.

We live on the edge of our own little frontier.  There are paved roads that end in dirt roads.  There are two wheeled trails that turn into a single trail.  There is SO much to explore and I want to explore it all... on foot or on a bike or on an ATV.

So the other day, I got the hubs and my boys to come with me and we traveled down a dirt road we haven’t been down before, next to the mountain in our valley.  We discovered a road that went in a little canyon and behind the mountain that could only be traveled on with a vehicle like our suburban.  At one point I couldn’t help but stop and get out and suggest we climb up part of the rocky mountain to get a view.  

What started out as a  little stroll turned into climbing that whole mountain!  It was rocky and there was a single little trail and for part of it - I even RAN up.  I LOVED the fact that my body could run up a rocky mountain!!  You cannot even tell how high up we really were but it was pretty stoic and surreal.  

 

My 11 year old son kept going and wanting to go higher.  

And we were rewarded with a MAGNIFICENT view of the valley.  It was INCREDIBLE.  

We could see our group of homes like tiny dots off to the far right.

After what seemed like hours we were back down and driving out of the canyon when the cows that were grazing around decided to stand in the road.  This particular calf stood it’s ground with us, staring us down.  I’d move little close, it would back off but but stay in the road.  

Call it courage, or maybe just stupidity... 
but what a curious and questioning little cow!  
I find that beautiful!


I feel like I’m looking at the world through different eyes than I once did.  
I feel like I am experiencing the world.  
I love nature!

Life is Beautiful!  But only when you LOOK for it!

Where do YOU find beauty?