See Beautiful - A day late

For the past month, I have felt as if I've been floating aimlessly in time, and, true to form, I forgot that yesterday was "See Beautiful" Friday. Thus, I am celebrating seeing beauty a day late. I must admit that, for weeks after K died, I took very few photos of the world around me. Everything looked drab, dark, and colorless. Very gradually, I've started noticing the beauty around me again, a tiny bit at a time.

I ran across this beautiful Native American Prayer that is comforting to me as I remember K and realize that her beautiful spirit is still with me.

I give you this one thought to keep -

I am with you still – I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow,

I am the diamond glints on snow,

I am sunlight on ripened grain,

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awake in the morning’s hush

I am the swift, uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not think of me as gone -

I am with you still – in each new dawn.

I wished that K was with me physically, "covering my back", while I checked a trail camera that had taken incredible photos of a muscular and sinewy mountain lion. This lion is graceful, strong, smart, and beautiful. I am so grateful that a few of these animals survived the scourge of the bounty hunters who tried to wipe them out in the first half of the last century.

Look at the graceful curve of the lion's back...

... and, his powerful shoulders and long neck.

Check out the inquisitive look the lion adopted when he noticed the camera and sniffed the air.

What a beautiful creature. He survives by being invisible to humans while living among us. I love that my remote trail cameras can catch glimpses of his life.

While the mountain lion was visiting my trail camera, I was in the high mountains of Southwestern Colorado, rediscovering their beauty. I must admit that regret was mixed with awe as we gazed at beautiful mountain scenes. The scenes would have been even more beautiful if K had been with us to witness them. One evening, we saw a glorious sunset over a mountain lake.

I think that "seeing beautiful" is a state of mind. Love and beauty go together. I tend to think that things and beings that I love are beautiful. That link has never been more apparent to me than over the past month.