{one with nature}

What inspires you about being in nature? Walking through a beautiful park? Hiking a forested mountain trail? Camping out in the red rock desert under the stars? Playing in the ocean?

I have always adored the outdoors, being within nature and exploring. Looking around and taking it all in. Scaling red rock, climbing natural ladders of boulder-filled dried waterfalls, having my breath taken by the beauty of discovery. The depth of nature's texture, element and pattern is mesmerizing. One of the areas I am most drawn to is down. On the ground. Perhaps a key contributor to my neck issues, but either way, magic is down there, under and among our steps as we walk.

I have collected stones and rocks and gems and shells and bits of nature since I was a young child. I have literally hundreds of pounds of meticulously stored and encased pieces of God's amazing imagination in boxes and totes. One day I hope to have a huge old vintage wall apothecary to encase it all in drawer upon drawer. There is something so comforting about bringing a bit nature from the outside in. And the most amazing part of all is that nobody will ever have a duplicate of what you have found. It is your own treasure.

I am more selective now, taking only what I find really special. If I disturb a rock and decide not to put it in my pack, I replace it where it was. I enjoy seeing the love my daughter also has for nature, preservation and conservation as I teach her by my side. She is like a mini me, collecting rocks and leaves and all sorts of "treasures". She also loves animals and bugs tremendously and now realizes that collecting 40 potato bugs to "all be friends in my bike basket" will only lead to sad disaster after a day in the hot sunshine.

A favorite collection we have is of heart-shaped rocks. It is like God sculpted them, gathered them in his arms and tossed the entire batch into the air to be sprinkled randomly all over the earth, as finding them is very rare and special. Upon discovering one, it is as though he is saying, "See? I AM with you wherever you walk in life."