Hungry For Beautiful


We are hungry for beautiful. Hungry for worthwhile, soul-gratifying experiences. We know on a visceral level that our lives cannot be complete without such encounters and adventures, but we often do not stop to realize how near at hand they are.

Time and again I am drawn to the allure of nature to fulfill these parts of me that long to connect in meaningful ways. These parts of me that desire to feel grateful. That wish to embrace wonder and seek miracles. That seek unfettered, authentic joy. All of these things can be found in abundance in nature.

I live in Maine. The seasons are bold, and impossible to ignore. Each one offers up unique gifts.

 

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Spring

• the unlocking of frozen earth giving way to regeneration and new life. the…

• babble of the river

• far-off cry of the red-tailed hawk

• rich, loamy smell of damp woods

• fresh foliage

• a carpet of velvety, blue-green grass

• golden lustre of blooming forsythia

• musical incantations of the vigorous peepers, singing on end, all night

• sunny windows

• delicate, paperthin blossoms of native serviceberry shrubs (also known as sugarplum or juneberry or saskatoon) that grow naturally in the Maine woods (I transplanted from my woods the one you see in this post). In the summer it bears sugary-sweet, delicious purple-red berries that taste much like blueberries. I’m planning to make a wild sugarplum pie with them.

• startlingly glorious returns of my crocus, daffodils, tulips, hyacinth, ground phlox, scilla siberica (called ‘spring beauty’), and leucojum (the white bell-like flowers in this post)

• nature’s plant medicine, as found in the daffodils springing up all around my yard. I have made medicinal infused honey with the roots (the how-too on my personal IG account @drawn•to•the•river) and I’ve been enjoying their new tender greens in my morning omelets, in salads, and on our Friday-night pizza.

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Keep your eyes open today. The beautiful is near and at hand.

XX