Outdoor Gems

Our world is full of beauty. To enjoy it, all you have to do is make the effort to look around. It's easy to go through life hoping for something spectacular to happen, when in reality we're surrounded nearly every day by-as one of our former Presidents might say-"spectacularity".

I'm betting that no matter where you live, whether in Arkansas, Colorado, downtown Chicago, or British Columbia, Canada, there's beauty all around you. So much so that if your intention was to see just a small fraction of it, you'd spend a lifetime trying and not even scratch the surface.

~My bride behind Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

A couple of weeks ago, Sue and I spent an hour or so walking through the grounds of Crystal Bridges. At a glance, the 100 plus acres surrounding the museum isn't what I'd call breathtaking. But if you're intentional about making an effort to see what's there, the overall beauty of the place is worth your time in my opinion.   

~A pavilion sits unobtrusively on the museum grounds a few yards off a walking path

It'd be easy to walk past this pavilion and not give it a second thought. It may not ever win the award for "best design of an outdoor structure", but I thought it was deserving of a few seconds of my time to admire.

I noticed several large rocks lying around that were pretty cool in and of themselves. After taking a picture of the one below, I thought to myself that on one of my next trips to the cabin, I'm going to make a point to walk down along the creek just to look at the rocks. One pretty cool sidebar about rocks: every rock you've ever seen has been on the earth since the beginning of time. And as far as I know, "they're" not making any new rocks.

The next time you're walking through your neighborhood, driving down the street, or hurrying into the grocery store, look around as you go: you might notice one of life's previously obscure little gems, for the very first time-and it might just make your day!

~A moss covered rock lies alongside one of the many museum trails