Mother Nature

Good day, good people.

For devotees of the English language: Nitid is an adjective. It means shining or lustrous.

She is a beautiful lady. She loves me and brings me nitid gifts every day.

This morning I watched her perform one of her magnificent-light shows. At dawn the sun started to rise behind the mountains. Its multi-colored rays produced by the reflection off and through the clouds and the particles in the atmosphere produced another of her masterpieces. On my side, the mountains were still dark, and no color had been added with her artist’s camel-hair brush. As the sun rose, the colors on the mountains changed to different shades of green. My view gave me the pleasure of her mottling skills. Her brush moved quickly in the emerald-green paint on her palette; she applied it to the mountain’s canvas, and I knew all was well.

I went outside and enjoyed the sound and look of the light and shadows of the trees dancing on the flowing waters of the water fountain. I picked up my newspaper, went back inside and placed it on the table in the sun room.

Standing on the rear patio, I searched for another of my morning gifts and scoured the short-brown grass of the meadow. It was populated with mounds of earth from the rodents’ and gophers’ holes. I looked for my morning visitor and friend the Great Blue Heron. I found it standing under and in the shadow cast by an Oak tree. It was having breakfast. The heron had the rodent’s tail in its long beak and was reeling it in slowly. My friend was magnificent with its forty-five inch tall slate-blue body, long neck, beak and legs.

The heron’s-feathered friends were also in attendance. The black crows were pecking the ground for insects. They watched the heron to see if there were going to be any leftovers, but alas not a chance. The heron slowly swallowed the rodent. I saw no smile on my friend’s face, but it continued in its constant stoic and majestic appearance which Mother Nature had provided.

I enjoyed looking at all of the different species of colorful flowers on the patio. All of my friends were inspected to make sure they were not thirsty. They were not, and I was thanked by their blooming with deep-saturation of colors.

Mother has provided a warm summer day. It is a perfect day for me. The gifts just keep coming. In return, I will tell all who will listen or read about her gifts — which I do not take for granted, nor should anyone. Life is very fragile, and one should live every day as if it is their last. Kiss your loved one’s goodbye each day when you or they leave your house and tell them you love them. And, do the same when they return. I know, and they know we love one another. But, it is always rewarding for both loved ones to tell each other.

I look through my scriptorium window onto the meadow. The new born fawns’ camouflage has started to fade to tan and soon they will be the same color as their attendant mothers. One needs to be careful when driving on the roads, because there are three deer paths. Encountering the does and their fawns is a regular occurrence.

The sunset shades of peach, light orange, dark blue and purple are being applied to the mountain’s canvas. It is like a lava lamp changing the mountains from green to dark blue, purple and then black. The tranquil dusk’s soft-warm glow dims before it goes dark and to sleep for the night.

Sunrises and sunsets remind me of being in Arizona’s Petrified Forest at sunrise and sunset. The colors are changing constantly until the sun fully rises, then the colors are constant. All of the colors are displayed. The same is true at sunset. As the sun starts to leave its warmth behind, it reflects again off of the atmosphere and the particles in it, projects them onto the forest’s canvas and one of Mother’s great-light shows takes place. If you can, you should at sunrise and sunset. I have, and the reward you will receive is not replaceable.

Lightening, thunderstorms and rain is Mother Nature’s way of stimulating the environment. I take shelter in all of the things she has provided. Sitting in front of the wood fire makes me feel safe. Staring into the flame of different shapes allows me to meditate amid the storm outside.

Like all mothers she will die one day, and there will be no more gifts. In about five-billion years our star will start to run out of hydrogen. It will become a red giant, and the sky will be filled with it. The giant will expand fifteen hundred times in diameter and incinerate everything on Earth as it moves closer and closer. All water will evaporate. The Earth will be scorched and the surface of the Earth will disappear. All life as we know it will be terminated including our nurturing Mother Nature. We could not live here without her love. At the end, the giant will send a final burst of hydrogen into space, and the sun will become a white dwarf.

What is your thought on the contribution Mother Nature has made to your life?

I hope this post will give you something to consider. To be successful you must understand other people’s opinions and care about them.

I care about your opinion. Contacting me with comments and constructive criticisms at Daniel McNeet with honesty and pleasantness their constant companions will always be welcomed. Or, you may click on the Facebook or Twitter icons under the graphic of Operation Downfall at the bottom of the page.

Mother Nature's Forest