This is another one like goodness - hard to define but we know it when we see it. Or hear it. Or encounter it. While beauty may "be in the eye of the beholder" it is something we all love and enjoy and pursue. Sometimes it is evident in randomness, but most times it is evident from design. For example, how many of us think "beauty" when we first look at our random selves after getting out of bed in the morning? I would venture to guess very few, and that I would stand in the majority who say, "gotta get ready" and by that we mean we are doing what we can to look our best for the day.
G and I spent much of the day yesterday looking at the Fall colors. We drove down Hwy. 21 to Goldman, Missouri, where Sandy Creek Covered Bridge is preserved. There really isn't much else at Goldman, Missouri, but by the number of people and photographers around, it looked like we may be the last to know about it. It was quite the little find, and I will blog about it more tomorrow, but for now, simply enjoy the picturesque beauty of this bridge that crosses the Sandy Creek and was first built back in 1872.
We then headed further south on Hwy 21 to Washington State Park. The highlight of this stop for us was the petroglyphs. G joked that petroglyphs must have something to do with oil, and then when we saw this sign, he was sure this was an old Native American symbol for a gas pump with a clog in it... and an old oil can greasing up the upside down pump...
Suffice it to say, we're still somewhat petroglyph challenged...but to some, I am sure these represent beauty...
Along the way we commented that the Reds and Yellows of Fall make "our heart sore" as G put it, but that without the Golds and the Rusts and the Browns to serve as the background support, we wouldn't appreciate the Red and Yellow exceptions.
We also saw the simple beauty of farm homes and cows grazing in the pasture and fields that had been hayed.
Uh...what? Hayed? As in the past tense of hay?
Greg: They've hayed that field?
Me: Uh...what did you say?
Greg: They hayed that field. <this time said with a bit of a twinkle in his eye> You know, it's fewer words than to say, "I brought in my hay this year." Or someone asks the farmer if he was done with his hay, he says, "Yes, I hayed already."
Me: Hay...as a verb...so the past tense is hayed. Hmmm...
(Google the past tense of hay...you will get lots of references to Spanish, but not so sure yet that hay is a verb in the English language...but it appears to be in the Langston language...)
Our last stop for the day was Robertsville State Park on the Meramac. G snapped a few shots of the Gold and Rust hues we found right on the river's edge...where we also enjoyed the beauty of quiet.
And our hearts were full. We came back into town on 44 a little south of Eureka, and there are some beautiful hillsides covered in trees. The sun was setting, but still shining on the trees, and for the first time ever it dawned on me that when we drive this stretch in summer, it is all green. Beauty even then, yes, but you don't get much outline of distinct trees. In Fall, you do, because of the variety of color. Another attribute of beauty....
One other comment about beauty. I have discovered euonymus bushes for the first time this year. I am not sure how I managed to live 52 years on this here Earth and not notice them before, but that is another story. These bushes are green in the Spring and Summer, but the leaves turn a gorgeous shade of red in the Fall -
...but you need to look quick, because they may only be that shade for a couple of weeks before all of the leaves fall off.
Such is often the nature of beauty. It is fleeting. It fades quickly. Which is why we need to take time to notice it...to pursue it...to appreciate it in its myriad forms...and I could post a much longer DD if I tried to mention more than the focus of the Fall colors in this post...but it's very transiency makes us even more thankful that it exists...that our Creator thought of beauty...not just purpose, but beauty.
And for that I am thankful.
Oh, and for pie. I'm always thankful for pie.
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