Come Walk with Me and See

Foreword

The natural world around us is a beautiful place; it truly is, though many times it is not apparent.  We are so involved in our daily lives that often there is little time left to see the beauty that our world holds for us.  Between work and raising families a blind eye is turned towards earthly beauty.  I am not certain it has always been like this for mankind but I tend to think not.  It seems that our modern world, and all the conveniences it has given us, has had its price.  With each new invention, with each new revelation, with each new and improved way of doing things life is supposed to get simpler.  Has life really gotten simpler though?  Maybe it has.  I guess that is a good thing.  Has the quality of life improved?  Certainly it has in some ways but in other ways I am not so certain at all.

I was the same as most people; work, work, and work some more.  Work and achieve then work even harder to achieve more.  Along came a family and then I felt I would have to work even harder to do what I was “supposed” to do, and I did.

Soon after the children were born my wife and I decided to introduce them to the outdoor world.  It may have only been the backyard.  It may have been a city park or a state park.  Often it was on a farm or trail but any which way it seemed that we were always headed somewhere outdoors to a more natural setting.

One day the four of us were out on a short hike through the woods at one of our favorite locations.  My daughter, barely three years old, stopped next to a little pink wildflower and asked, “What is this?”  I told her it was a flower, thinking that that would suffice as an answer.  It did not.  She wanted to know the name of the flower, “the pretty little flower,” as she called it.  I felt total embarrassment at that moment.  I had walked past and seen that very species of wildflower nearly all my life yet I had no idea of what its name was.

At that moment I realized how little I knew about all the beauty that surrounded me.  It was not just that pretty flower but also all the other pretty flowers, all the insects, all the rocks, all the animals, all of everything that I was surrounded by but did not know much about.  It has been since that very question, from that little child, that I have been on a self appointed mission.  A mission to see and learn about all that surrounds me in the natural world.

It is a mission that has encompassed me.  It is a mission that has opened up my eyes and my mind to all the beauty that we are so close to.  It is a mission that I now know will be never ending, and I would not want it to be any other way.  It is a mission that was started by my little daughter and I am so glad that it did.

In no way do I want the reader to think that I am an expert of the outdoors.  Much of what follows are merely feelings that I felt when I saw some particular sight out and about on my frequent jaunts.  Some factual information that I have learned throughout the years is made mention of but for the most part it is my personal feelings and my personal love for the beauty in the natural world that I wish to share with others.

More importantly, the goal that I have for the pictures and words presented within is that I can entice others to open their eyes and discover for themselves the beauty that is all around.  I wish for others to feel the joy I have, to be amazed as I have, and to see the beauty that I have.  It is free for the taking.  The only price is that of time.  I implore you to take the time, find the time, make the time; the time needed to get away from your normal worldly routine.  The time needed to get out and see, get out and hear, get out and taste, get out and feel all that is out there; once begun you will never stop, that I can nearly guarantee you.