10 things about nature that I’m grateful for:
2) The Amazon River: at the end of my time of
living in Ecuador I got to go on a side trip and live in the Amazon jungle for
four days in a hut. To get to that rustic hut we had to take a motorized canoe
three hours up the Amazon River. Over the next couple of days I got to live
right on the river, float down it with only a lifejacket, and go river rafting
down it. Let’s just say there was more than one National Geographic moment.
3) Absolutely perfect fall days: I thought I loved
Utah falls (and when I say Utah falls I mean the three fall days we usually get
in between the scorching summer heat and the cold snowy winters) and then I
lived in Texas on my mission and I thought I loved Texas falls, but then I
moved to DC and I fell in love with East Coast falls. There have been weeks and
weeks of perfect fall days with colorful trees, leaves crunching, scarf
wearing, boot walking days.
4) Delicious fruit from the earth: is there
anything better than a perfectly ripe raspberry, pineapple, mango, or apple? I
submit that there is not. Sometimes I’m amazed that we have such delicacies for
our use and sustenance. I thank the moment that those uber delicious fruits
were created.
5) Sand dunes: I seem to have a lot of family
memories at sand dunes. It seems we always went out of our way on road trips to
stop at some sand dunes so we could play and get our wiggles out. In April when
we went to Mexico we spent a very windy day at some sand dunes by the beach. My
dad got the idea to go to the bottom and videotape us kids as we ran down the
dunes toward him. We trooped to the top and when he gave us the signal we
sprinted down the dune straight toward him. It was hilarious and I was laughing
at my brothers as they had their arms out pretending to fly. But then I
tripped. The only thing you can see on the video are my brothers flapping their
wings and me biffing it straight onto my face. They didn’t realize I was down
until they got to the bottom, looked around for me and saw me laughing my guts
out and spewing sand mid-way up the dune. It was a special moment for me.
6) Goblin Valley and Calf Creek Falls: they’re in
Southern Utah. If you haven’t been than you need to. They will blow your minds.
7) Texas sunsets: now don’t get me wrong, I loved
my mission, and I loved walking the streets of the Metroplex and the Texas country,
but when it comes down to it Texas doesn’t hold a flame to Utah as far as
natural beauty is concerned. There are no mountains, nor anything else really.
But what Texas does have is sunsets. And believe me when I say that those
sunsets make up for anything else it’s lacking.
8) Utah’s cool summer evenings: if you asked me to
describe my perfect moment (as far as perfect moments I’ve had up until this
point in my life go- I’m sure that getting married or holding my first baby
will be different) I would say that my perfect moment is sitting on my porch in
a chair under a table umbrella, eating a homemade cheeseburger hot off the
grill, talking with my family, on a perfect summer evening in Utah. It doesn’t
get a lot better than that.
9) Boogey boarding waves: to feel the crest of the
wave, my arms paddling, my head raised….and then that sensation when I’ve
caught a solid big wave that I can ride all the way to shore.
10) The first
snow: the first snow means fires in chimneys, tubing at the dunes, plenty of snow
in the mountains for skiing, the coming of Christmas and family time
No comments:
Post a Comment