Reflecting.

Photos taken October 2009 at Camp Perry.

Seek for the beauty in your everyday. This is something that has been a bit of a challenge for me since moving to the RGV. I tell myself, "It's not pretty down here--it's so flat!" I miss the rolling Appalachian Mountains and the Blue Ridge aflame in their fall glory (or truthfully, I miss them in any season). I miss the green. I miss fall--the smells and colors. I miss the newness of spring and the rebirth of flowers and the new life seen in fields I pass by. I miss the Willamette Valley and the Pacific Ocean. It's easy to see beauty in those areas. One is continually surrounded by it. Down here, it is not as easy to see it, but it is there, none-the-less.

There is beauty in the vivid colors of the kiskadees and the parrots I have seen flying by outside. There is beauty in the sunsets in the vast Texas sky. There is beauty seen in the butterflies, fluttering from flower to flower. The orange, grapefruit and lemons all turning their various hues in the local groves have their own special beauty (and the fresh squeezed lemonade I made last week was amazing too!). Even the cacti and the native mesquite trees have their own beauty. The beauty I'm finding isn't what I'm used to, but it is waiting for me to seek it out. It's a constant reminder of how varied God's creation is, and how amazing He is.