The Five Most Beautiful Things (according to me)

I (Matt) was inspired to write this by a number of breathtaking things I have seen lately, (mostly in my own household) and just had the bug in me to go forward with it. So here goes.

5. Mountains. I recently posted my love for the Sierra Nevada, so here I will dream of mountains covered in trees of the Tropical Rain Forest. A few months ago, I traveled to Puerto Rico for a "work trip" and had a fantastic time spelunking and catching bats and bugs. I just love the rain forest! The first picture is where I would sit and eat meals at the field station in the morning and evening. The second is from a cave we climbed through, and to our surprise, we found an exit that was 200-300 feet high on a cliff overlooking one of the most amazing places I have been. Good times.


Ahh.... mealtime, this beats reading the box of cereal


A nice surprise in the dark cave


Playing with bats.


Did I mention? The beaches on there were pretty nice.




4. Fall in New England
For this I have to borrow from the words of Bill Bryson

"New England provides a setting that no other in America can rival. Its sunny, white churches, covered bridges, tidy farms, and clusted villages are an ideal complement to the rich, earthy colors of nature. Moreover, there is a variety in its trees that few other area achieve: oaks, beeches, aspens, sumacs, four varietes of maples and others almost beyond counting provide a contrast that dazzles the senses. Finally, and above all, there is a brief, perfect balance of its climate in fall, with crisp, chilly nights and warm, sunny days, which help to bring all the deciduous trees to a coordinated climax. So make no mistake. For a few glorious days each October, New England is unquestionably the loveliest place on earth."

Having now moved away from New England, we miss it terribly, however, we have found that Western New York has a great amount of charm and the leaves are very nice here as well.

Sunderland MA, pretty much exactly what Bryson described


The Coast in Maine, there is no rival to this area in Fall.


3. Southern Utah Canyon Country in the Winter.
I love the desert. One of the best books ever written is Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey. Beautiful Prose. Well, I love the silence, solace, beauty, stillness and peace that I find best when sitting quietly overlooking something pleasing to the soul in the desert. Winter is even better because, the air is crisp and cool, there are never other people, you can hike for hours without over heating and there is something about having a small amount of snow dusting over the desert floor that enhances the landscape just that much more. So here are a few shots from the last time I got to go to the San Rafael Swell in the winter.







2. My Girls
As I eluded to above, this blog was inspired by something beautiful in my home. Well, it was my nightly ritual of checking on Ashlan and Elli as I go to bed. Each night my heart is full to bursting as I look at them so peacefully sleeping in the quiet dark of our house. Sometimes I want to sit and stare for a few minutes, other times I am overcome with the urge for a good cuddle or squeeze and on rare occasions I just want to wake them up and play with them. Now I think they are always beautiful, but there is something about them sleeping contently that is really amazing (I hope it isn't just because they aren't making noise). I don't have any shots of the sleeping so I will just post these from the first day of school, more pictures of them are below.

Ashlan


Elli


1. Stacie
I really don't know where to begin with this one. Stacie is the essence of beauty. Inside and out she is the most beautiful person, place or thing I have ever known. There are times (quite often actually) when I look at her and think, "I have no business being married to such an amazing person" but I am and she can't get out of it now, so... lucky me. I would love to go on, and I would, but I know that the more I say, the higher likelihood there is that she will "unpublish" this blog post. In fact if you are reading this, consider yourself lucky, I don't expect it to be up long. Anyway suffice it to say, I am madly in love with this woman, when I count my blessings she is the first, the last and every other in between, and I would be lost without her.


Isn't she gorgeous!



Between my family, my home town and my job, "there is beauty all around". So yeah, I think I am pretty lucky.