"Never lose an opportunity
to see anything that is beautiful.
It is God's handwriting
~~a wayside sacrament.
Welcome it in every fair face,
every fair sky,
every fair flower. "
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Be like the bird,
who halting in his flight on limb too slight,
feels it give way beneath him,
yet sings knowing
he hath wings. "
~ Victor Hugo
"I love to think of nature
as an unlimited broadcasting station,
through which God speaks to us every hour,
if we will only tune in."
~George Washington Carver
"God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone,
but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars."
~Martin Luther
"I will send you the seasonal rains.
The land will then yield its crops,
and the trees of the field
will produce their fruit."
~Leviticus 26:4
"The hillside's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn:
God's in His heaven—
All's right with the world!"
~Robert Browning
"Discovering this idyllic place,
we find ourselves filled with a yearning
to linger here, where time stands still
and beauty overwhelms."
~author unknown
Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn.
"You take care of the earth and water it,
making it rich and fertile.
The river of God has plenty of water;
it provides a bountiful harvest of grain,
for you have ordered it so."
~Pslam 65:9
All photos were taken tonight by our youngest daughter Jill, who appreciates nature as much as her parents do. As we hiked and took in all the beauty after a heavy rain, I couldn't decide if I was living in Seattle in Washington, Vernon in British Columbia, Wicklow in Ireland, Solihull in England, Cairns in Queensland Australia, the Veluwe in Gelderland in the Netherlands or the Amazon rainforests which are referred to as the "jewels of the earth."
(click to enlarge for better view)