for the beauty of the earth

1. the scent of fresh lavender rubbed between my fingertips
2. the shades of blue in a well-fed hydrangea
3. cooing pigeons
4. cooing doves
5. the chatter of a young raccoon
6. dolphins
7. dolphin chatter
8. flight--any: pigeons tumbling (you should come see it at my house), hawks and eagles (but not while the pigeons are flying
9. whales breaching
10. whale song
11. the color of coral
12. the color of water--ocean water, and also the piercing blue of Starvation Reservoir
13. red rocks of Southern Utah.
14. the lakes of Finland
15. Monument Valley
16. the Oregon coast
17. Heceta Head Lighthouse
18. Devil's Elbow
19. Cannon Beach
20. Multnomah Falls
21. The Columbia River Gorge
22. The entire Willamette Valley
23. the wild blackberries that grew along my back fence in my childhood home
24. all the berries that thrived in our garden
25. fresh peaches
26. vine-ripened tomatoes
27. freshly picked and immediately cooked corn on the cob slathered with butter and sprinkled with sea salt
28. sun-ripened fresh strawberries
29. pears
30. the golden glint of a row of jars filled with freshly canned pears
31. fresh beets
32. fertile soil
33. lying on your back on warm green grass on a summer's day and watching the clouds float by
34. sunrise over Y mountain
35. sunrise over a thousand lakes in Finland
36. sunset over the west desert
37. sunset over any beach on the Oregon coast
38. sunset over another thousand lakes in Finland
39. the night sky over Salt Lake (as viewed twice now from the Huntsman Institute)
40. the night sky over Utah Valley as viewed from anywhere on the east bench
41. a row of tiny baby quail in the backyard (or crossing the street--I brake for baby quail)
42. baby chicks
43. rooster crow
44. farm fresh eggs
45. newborn fawns
46. seals
47. otters--they know how to play, yes the do
48. penguins
49. polar bears
50. Bridal Veil Falls
51. a good lightening storm
52. how big the stars are once you get out of the city
52. the vineyards near Reims, France
52. the Rhine River Valley
52. the cliffs of Dover
53. tulips in Belgium
54. the rolling green hills in England
55. jelly fish (in tanks and in the ocean, not when they're wrapped around your ankles
56. the bright bright colors of tropical fish
57. the wildflowers at Yellowstone
58. the clarity of the water at Big Springs, the source of one of the forks of the Snake River
59. the warmth of the sun any spring afternoon
60. the cool you start to feel in the air September nights
61. the touch of a breeze on your face and in your hair
62. the feel of water
63. the taste of water
64. snowflakes on my nose and eyelashes
64. Timp when she's wearing her snow dress
65. the vivid hues of fall leaves
66. the crunch of leaves underfoot
67. the crunch of snow underfoot
68. the crunch of ice under teeth
69. the scent of sagebrush
70. the scent of sage rubbed between your fingers, too
71. rosemary
72. lemon thyme
73. a whiff of lilac blossoms (who says that smell is for old people?)
74. a whiff of mock orange blossoms
75. crabapple blossoms bowing the branches of the tree in our front yard
76. Virginia Creeper in the fall
77. fresh (and wormless) cherries
78. squares of farmland--yellow and all shades of green--dotting the countryside
79. the rush of water over river rock
80. that cool feeling of wet sand between your toes
81. submerging your feet in any water--oceans, lakes or streams
82. echoes
83. puppies--any
84. the work ethic of a beaver
85. willow leaves
86. shade on a hot summer's day
87. bird chirping in the spring
88. cricket song at summer night
89. the gorgeousness of Daniel's Summit and Strawberry Valley almost any time of year
90. the quaking of aspen
91. the lush green of almost anywhere in the Pacific Northwest
92. the taste of ocean salt spray
93. the sound of waves crashing against the surf
94. the feel of body surfing
95. the magic of tide pools
96. the wonder of seeds sprouting
97. the glow of a full moon
98. the embrace of the Wasatch Mountains
99. the magic play of light, sound and energy during a storm
100. sunbeams
101. at least 101 gorgeous places to be in Provo Canyon during any season of the year