I never take our wonderful world for granted.  Wherever I go, I pay close attention to my surroundings, on my own level, and above and below me.  That is why, today, I am linking to another of my own posts, here at Calling-All-RushBabes.  Check out “I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now”, below.  Just scroll down.

Here in Western Washington, we are blessed with lakes, rivers, and the Pacific Ocean.  When walking on our mostly-rocky beaches, I often look down, to see the multi-hued stones, shells, driftwood, and seaweed that comprise our shorelines.  Along the Columbia River, the beaches are made up of the crushed stone that lines the river, often columnar basalt, which is beautiful in its own right.

Above is the “before” picture, the hills above the Columbia Gorge near Wenatchee, Washington.  Below is the “after” picture, when the basalt has crumbled, and now makes up the beach on the Columbia river.  I’m pretty sure this rock dates from long before the highway and the city were built!

I have ten brown thumbs, so I don’t do much with plants.  But I do pay close attention to the plants and flowers around me, and I especially love symmetry.  These Euphorbia were planted at a local shopping center, and their color just blew me away.

Each flower is its own perfect, little cup.

When I moved into my house 21 years ago, my real estate agent gave me an azalea plant.  I kept it inside for a while, then planted it outside my front door.  It has reliably bloomed every year, without any help from me!

Of course, the majesty of Nature is visible everywhere in our wonderful world.  We haven’t traveled as extensively as Tina Schell has, but we’ve been to some pretty spectacular places.  We first went to Glacier National Park in Montana, in 2010 on our way back from Hillsdale, Michigan.  St. Mary Lake was wildly beautiful that morning.

But, when we went higher up, over Logan Pass, there was roadwork being done on the highway, and it was really scary in the roiling clouds-yes, we were actually inside the very low clouds!  I was driving Hubby’s car, which is very low to the ground, and the one-way road looked right over the cliff.  I had my heart in my mouth for miles.

We went back to Glacier last year on our way home from South Dakota, and the weather was much nicer.  The valley right below the above vantage-point was bright, sunny, and very green!  That’s the Flathead River.

Along with the marvels of Nature, I appreciate the achievements of human beings.  I admire the engineering ingenuity that enable the construction of buildings in Israel that have lasted for 2,000 years.  In America, most structures are much younger.

Human ingenuity and engineering has brought us the Golden Gate Bridge.

And the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and the highways that go over those bridges.

And the cruise-ships on which we travel under that bridge, and around the world.

And the spectacular Mount Rushmore.  Carved over many years, by human hands alone (it’s hard to get heavy machinery up the side of a granite mountain!).

Human hands also give us much more intricate things, like these Japanese dolls.

And this hand-stitched Harry Potter quilt.

It’s a Wonderful World does mention trees, and we have seen a great many in our travels, and right here at home.  They don’t call Washington the Evergreen State for nothing!

Just yesterday, we went up to Leavenworth for what they called the Accordion Celebration, but was a mere shadow of itself.  The mountainsides were green, with both evergreen and deciduous trees.

Near an old dam, I stood under a large pine tree to take pictures.  I wondered how old that tree was.  Looking up.

And I looked right in front of me, at the intricate tracings of the bark of that tree.  Beautiful in itself.

And the Wenatchee River was in full flood.

In town, we stood on the bridge and watched the kayakers on the river.

Bringing it all back home.  We live in a wonderful little world in the back yard, and our neighborhood.

Yes, it’s a wonderful world.  Just look around you.  And thank God for placing us on such a beautiful planet.

Link to Original Post, Wonderful World.