This morning I took the time to make a walk in nature. It is a lovely summer day with a fresh breeze in the air. I was amazed by all the different kind of butterflies I noticed. It was like they were having a summer party! And who would blame them…
Surrounded by all these shades of green, it feels like I’m in another world where there’s no sorrow, pain, loss, grief or tears. It’s healing for the soul and I so wish every one on this earth had the opportunity to wander around in green cathedral for a while. Sadly we are too often confronted with the harshness and inequality of this world.
The following poems reflect my thoughts about the benefit and importance of nature and what we can learn from it. I hope you might find the time this summer to enjoy nature’s beauty and loveliness and feel refreshed by it.
“Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you. But if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder. “ Henry David Thoreau
“Come walk with me on a summer day
up a logging road, a long, long way
summer leaves are all you can see
so lovely and healthy and green as can be.
The grass and the ferns, the plants close to the ground
the bushes and branches, the trees all around
it’s all green as you’re ever seen
wonderfully, beautifully, brilliantly green.
The tall green treetops are ever so high
almost touching the bright blue sky
come walk with me in a summer breeze
and find joy, like sunlight, shifting down through the trees.”
Okie Howe
“The inhabitants of cities suppose that the country landscape is pleasant only half a year. I please myself with observing the graces of the winter scenery, and believe we are as much touched by it as by the genial influences of summer.
To the attentive eye, each moment of the year has its own beauty, and in the same field it beholds, every hour, a picture which has never seen before, and which shall never be seen again. The heavens change every moment and reflect their glory or gloom on the plains beneath.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” Rachel Carson