Day 26: Beauty in a broken world

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Zipping along my daily walks, I can easily miss the beauty that surrounds me. This month’s blog series has forced me to slow down, intentionally looking for beauty I might otherwise overlook. One reward for this habit of observation revealed itself in glass ornaments hanging from a tree in a friend’s front yard.

Yellows, reds, oranges, greens, and purple swirl through this glass bauble.

Without this project, I don’t know that I would’ve taken the time to truly notice them or fully appreciate the vibrancy they add to my friend’s yard while we all wait for more flowers to bloom. And it makes me wonder what else I miss in my busyness and distraction and haste.

Join me in the hunt for beauty?
Where do you see beauty in a broken world? Want to add your own images during what’s left in the 31-day journey? If so, feel free to comment below with your Instagram handle, and tag your Insta posts with #beautyinabrokenworld. You’ll find me there @pixofhope.

Day 25: Beauty in a broken world

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You may be saying, “Awww, what a sweet little deer,” as you look at this photo of a young deer in its winter coat. And I might, too, if the deer weren’t in a neighbor’s garden, along with seven of its friends, out for an evening of culinary browsing.

A young deer, fuzzy in its winter coat, watches me.

So what you and I see may be different. I see a marauder, a cute one, but a marauder all the same. The deer are a menace to my garden, and I do not wish them well.

A friend out walking her dog scattered the herd recently and then saw me. “So much for having any flowers this summer,” she said, with sadness in her voice. We have other neighbors who toss apples in their yard to encourage the deer to visit (as if they needed any encouragement at all). I suppose this is a fine example of “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

Join me in the hunt for beauty?
Where do you see beauty in a broken world? Want to add your own images during the 31-day journey? If so, feel free to comment below with your Instagram handle, and tag your Insta posts with #beautyinabrokenworld. You’ll find me there @pixofhope.

Day 24: Beauty in a broken world

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Xanthophylls provide some of the last vibrant color we see each autumn in trees’ yellow leaves. They also offer some of the first yellows we see each spring. While I wait (impatiently) for my own daffodils to bloom, I have been enjoying seeing neighbors’ daffodils opening up.

A friend’s daffodils

I’m grateful for xanthophylls—though they’re something I never knew about before—because they fill our world with such beauty at a time when we’re all a bit color-starved. It’s as if they mirror little pieces of the sun for us here on earth.

In researching xanthophylls, I also stumbled across this cool at-home experiment for those of you (maybe the ones with kids climbing the walls during the pandemic?) who might enjoy a science experiment on xanthophylls and other plant pigments. The experiment focuses on fall leaves, but it also says you can use other items. So try it with spring flowers that are popping up in your yard. If you do the experiment, I hope you’ll share the results and some photos.

Join me in the hunt for beauty?
Where do you see beauty in a broken world? Want to add your own images during the 31-day journey? If so, feel free to comment below with your Instagram handle, and tag your Insta posts with #beautyinabrokenworld. You’ll find me there @pixofhope.

Day 23: Beauty in a broken world

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Water can transform the mundane into the magical. This thought struck me as I took a closer look at the rocks in a stream on a recent walk. Dried out, they might not look so vivid, but under the steady wash of water, their colors jump out at me.

How many colors do you see?

The water is far too cold for wading, but perhaps this summer, I’ll remember these rocks and walk to the stream to cool my feet. Maybe children will have moved these rocks by then, picking them up to examine their colors and textures, or tossing them to test how far they can throw. But surely some of these rocks will still be there, waiting for me to visit again.

Join me in the hunt for beauty?
Where do you see beauty in a broken world? Want to add your own images during the 31-day journey? If so, feel free to comment below with your Instagram handle, and tag your Insta posts with #beautyinabrokenworld. You’ll find me there @pixofhope.

Day 22: Beauty in a broken world

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Views such as this one remind me how blessed I am to live in the mountains. I may not have a grand, sweeping view out of my windows at home, but I can walk or take a short drive to see beautiful mountain vistas that appear to go on forever.

Just as beach lovers are able grasp their small place in the universe when they gaze out at the vast ocean, highland visitors can capture that same feeling looking out over mountain ridges. I cherish this place and want to do all that I can to protect it for future generations. What places or views remind you of your own small role in this giant universe?

Join me in the hunt for beauty?
Where do you see beauty in a broken world? Want to add your own images during the 31-day journey? If so, feel free to comment below with your Instagram handle, and tag your Insta posts with #beautyinabrokenworld. You’ll find me there @pixofhope.