Yesterday I walked in Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion here in Canandaigua, New York.  Always delightful and such a treasure to have right here so close to my home.  We often think we have to go to some exotic place to visit something wonderful — when wonderful can be right where you are.  

What can make me smile can be a flower being visited by a butterfly or an old-fashioned dress hanging on a hanger in the mansion as though it was waiting to be worn again. Frogs were calling each other from a pool in the Japanese Garden.  Dahlias are bursting forth with gorgeous colors. I can only dream of mixing my oil paints to get those hues. Tiny creatures flew and fed within the gardens’ blossoms.

I tried to photograph a spider – but was having a hard time getting a good focus on the tiny thing on its web.  Reminds me sometimes we’re so busy looking at the “big picture” that we forget to notice the little things in life – the now, the moment we’re in right now.  How often we find ourselves distracted. Sometimes coming back to the natural world and truly observing the life we find can be the best cure for whatever occupies too much space in our minds.