Where I Come From

There's this guy I knew college that I've caught up with on facebook recently.  His name is DJ and he lives in West Yellowstone, MT.  Yep, that's right by the national park.  One of DJ's talents is photography.  My husband has dubbed DJ "Yellowstone Guy" and always asks if he's put up any new pics lately.  The kids love seeing all the animals that we just don't have in Kansas.  The photos are amazing.  But don't take our word for it, check him out and then like his fb page.  Tell him I sent ya.

DJ's pictures show majestic mountains, lakes, rivers and a ton of wildlife that I've never seen in my neck of the woods.  Sometimes when I see his pictures it makes me want to pack up and move to a place where my backyard is teeming with wildlife and landscapes are just screaming to be photographed.  (I gotta admit, though, that I never want to move to Montana when it's snowing.  And it seems to me that it was snowing in Montana for at least eight months last year!) 


I love seeing pictures of the New England leaves turning, tropical beaches and other faraway places.   A friend's sister got married in Ireland a few years back and I loved the amazing amount of green as well as the old castles and buildings.  There are so many amazing sights to see in this world and I have a long list of places to visit before I die.

Today as I was driving  I realized that beauty is not only found in faraway places, but also right here in my own backyard. It may be the middle of July in Kansas, where there's a 114 degree heat index and no wind, but farmers are out bailing hay, soybeans and corn are in the field waiting for the rain, and it's beautiful here  today.  The same God who created the splendor of Yellowstone created the plains of Kansas. (That is absolutely true, but the camera that took these photos is NOT the camera that took those at "A Quiet Place."  Neither is the photographer.  In fact, these were taken from my car, often while moving.  Hope you can see through that and enjoy the beauty anyway.  If you haven't already, go check out DJ's stuff.  You'll love it.)

I'm glad to be living life in the rural lower Mid-West, where people wave hello even if they don't know you.  Where "traffic" is the tractor/combine/grain truck you can't seem to pass fast enough, and the biggest reason to lock your car doors is that others might fill your car with excess produce from their gardens.

How about you?  What beauty do you see in your backyard?