It's Just Beautiful

Sometimes beauty can be found in unusal things...like a salad.  A salad?  Yes, a salad, or quite typically at my house, food in general.  Color, texture, shape...call me crazy.  I just think it is fun to put something really pretty on the table.  Every once in a while, I'll serve dinner from the skillet it was prepared in, but most often, I like to put the food into nice serving dishes or even arrange it on individual plates...it's just prettier, and quite honestly, more fun to eat that way.  I couldn't resist taking a picture of our dinner last night.  It just shouted, "Take a picture before everyone digs in and mixes everything up!"  So I did.  Plus, last night was the first evening meal we've had all together in over a week, so it was even more special...beautiful.  :)

And then there is natural, unquestionable beauty.  In the wee hours of the morning as I was leaving for my run, the sky was dark, but clear as every star in the universe was visible.  Breathtaking!  (Or was that the cold air??)   At the end of our run, a big, beautiful crescent moon invited us to stop and admire it.  I couldn't help looking at that moon all the way home, wishing I had my camera to capture it.  It was like a lunar eclipse in progress...stunning.  As soon as I got home, I grabbed my camera and tripod and snapped a couple of quick shots.  (Wishing I had all that high-end photography equipment for  moments like this!) 

The photos aren't the same as that real view (NOT EVEN CLOSE!!) that feels like you could reach out and really touch the moon...pull it from the sky to hold it and continue to admire it.  Even the kids were enamored.  This may be my favorite moon, next to the enormous orange harvest moon that looks as if it was hung in the sky just to oooh and ahhh over!  The stars and the moon in the sky with the sun rising close behind it.  BEAUTIFUL!  I'm so fortunate to be able to see all these beautiful things.