Brighten Your Day

I saw the most beautiful thing ever one morning. It was early with a slight frost on the ground, and I was walking on dewy grass down to the horse paddocks - my mind on the days chores.

Suddenly a blazing laser flash erupted straight from the ground about 15 feet in front of me, and shot up into the sky. It was so brilliant, clear and clean, it literally topped me in my tracks. I thought the only thing that could make such a dazzling flash must be a diamond - maybe someone had lost some kind of jewelry. Or some kind of weird reverse lightning strike - so bright. I waited to see if it repeated but it didn't.

I walked slowly towards it. There was nothing to see. I stared down at the grass, searching for a glint of gold or some kind of metal. Nothing. So I dropped down really close and there it was!

A tiny - no bigger than a dime - trapdoor spider's web, delicately hanging between blades of grass, glistening with miniature drops of dew, flashing and twinkling in a myriad of colors. The rising sun had caught the exact angle of the dewdrops, and that laser light had exploded up into the heavens.

It was incredible and stunning, such a powerful flash from something so small and fragile, and I would have crushed it beneath my feet. It was as though the unseen world was giving me a heads-up. Hello! Look what's around you. I've never forgotten that moment.

So I say to everyone- take some time to notice the miracle of nature that most of us never even see. So much beauty all around us if we would only take the time. Look at the brilliant colors and intricate patterns of tiny flowers that cover playing fields - we walk all over them without a second glance. Watch a bee harvesting pollen. So busy with a purpose. Tiny ants going about their day. Birds singing and fluffing their wings, being bossy. Busy iridescent beetles and glossy lizards. The subtle shading and colors of practically any flower on earth are breathtaking and all natural - if we would only notice. It doesn't have to be a garden. It can even be a weed flowering in the pavement crack.

So I say - take the time and each day discover from nature one secret beautiful thing that you can keep in your heart. And get your children to do the same. Take a picture. it's what life really consists of. And it's free.