Finding Beauty

Do you find that you pay little attention to birds in the wintertime? They don’t all fly south. This morning I opened the front door and could see hundreds of them, all in the same tree. As I stood watching, all at once they flew off – right over my house and into another tree. It was really a beautiful sight and a great way to start the day. I wonder why they choose certain trees over others, since they all seem to be empty limbs against the cold, blue January sky. I wish they would choose my maple tree, but perhaps it is too low to the ground. It has a nice nest near the top that I was only able to spot once the leaves all fell. It isn’t always easy to see the beauty that is right in front of me.

Last week my husband was gone on a trip for his work. He was sending me beautiful pictures the “river walk” in San Antonio, Texas. I stepped outside to get the mail and that is when I noticed a beautiful sunset. I snapped the picture and sent it to him.  He told me to print it out, because he also saw how pretty it was. I don’t live in an inspiring neighborhood. It is called “Country River Estates” and it is a mobile home park on the east border of Kennewick. You can’t see the river unless you walk down the road, across a ditch and up the levee. It is also not really in the country, but the neighbors that are considered “county” have horses and cows. To get a picture of the sunset I had to stand in the middle of the road and hold the camera high enough to miss the ugly houses below.

            That is also the night I noticed the nest in the top of my maple tree.  Sometimes I go searching for something decent to photograph just so I can ‘share’ it on Instagram. I think it is a good practice to look for beauty where I can’t easily find it – it makes me appreciate where I am just a little bit more.