A connection of the natural kind . . .

"Beauty in things exists in the mind which contemplates them"

- David Hume

Have you ever sat with your pencil and journal and had sooo many things to say that nothing was really being written with true clarity?  Well sometimes it's just as much of a curse to have so many things on your mind rather than nothing at all.

I think I started about three different things about my thoughts on connections, each one taking a different rabbit trail . . . I just couldn't decide where I was going with any of them. That is until a dragonfly handed me a glass of V-8 juice. . .

It was in my quandary of what I was going to end up writing that I got up from my comfy spot on my favorite sofa, in my favorite room of the house, and went to the front porch. Upon taking literally 3 steps toward the chair to sit down, a dragonfly just appeared and as I stood there it came over to me and hovered at eye level, looking straight at me, and for a moment time just.. stood.. still.

How could I have missed it? Because not only does nature simply fascinate me, but I feel intensely connected to it with a desire to share what I find in hopes of sparking a love in others. Because it's hard to get someone to take care of something that they either don't understand and or love.

I took this next photo last fall on one of my walks through the coastal birding trail. It was enjoying some lantana and as I got closer and closer I was amazed that it wasn't flying away. Monarchs aren't one of those butterflies that you can usually get really close to, so you can imagine my surprise when as I got closer and closer, finally offering out my hand, that she freely walked on to it.

Or another time at the very same place when I had spied a green anole and was able to get close enough to slip my hand under the leaf she was on without her going into flight mode....and coax her onto my finger.

The green anoles that live and thrive on my front porch have almost like clockwork, come to pay me a visit when I'm outside with my coffee in the mornings, almost as curious about me as I am about them. And it was about 2 years ago when I was gardening that a three toed box turtle walked right in front of me on a little pathway. She stayed for about a month, and when she heard my voice she would always come and find me, but I never heard from her again after a tropical storm came through.

When it comes to nature I lose all track of time, but always, always feel better for having spent time in it, and the more time I spend, the more connected I feel. I have always secretly wished that I could talk to the animals, but I'll gladly take the silent cues from my friends the dragonflies.

Why don't you share some of your favorite things in nature that you feel connected to in our Flickr Group, tagged with connected. Who knows you just might be our next InFocus selection of the week.

Happy Tuesday!