The Beauty All Around Us

About a year and a half ago I had a bad auto accident. My little Toyota RAV4 flipped over 4 times with me in it. My arm somehow got smashed between the car and the pavement and I lost part of the skin on my forearm. But amazingly my arm was the only thing that got damaged...besides my car...which was a total loss. I spent almost two months in the hospital getting fixed up...I had to have a skin graft but before that they put his pump thing on it which had to be changed every other day...that was the worst pain...that and the skin graft from my leg afterwords which hurt like nothing I've ever felt before. They told me it would feel like a really bad sunburn...well it's much worse than that..lol. But I survived and now I have a little bit newer Toyota RAV4 which is essential to get me out into the wildlands to do my photography. The only real problem I have is focusing...see it was my left arm that got mangled and for some reason my thumb will not bend at the joint like it used to. You never realize how important your thumb is for picking things up or turning and gripping until it won't do what you want it to. Now, I have been doing okay, but sometimes when I try to focus quickly my left hand goes weak and just won't turn the focusing ring...it's very frustrating sometimes...but considering what could have happened...I am not complaining. Because I can still get pics like the ones I've posted here....sooooo...I am very fortunate...I know this. I always think there is a reason why things happen, and at the time I had the accident things were very unsure for me and I guess I felt sort of worried about what the future was going to hold. When stuff like that happens you can't really worry about anything else but getting better. Maybe that was just what I needed to do...check out of the world so to speak....and get better. So that's what I did...and continue to do. But being able to take pictures and just getting out and being in nature does me a world of good. I feel sorry for people who don't understand the healing force of nature. Anyone who goes out in it and stays for a while knows what I am talking about. It puts everything in perspective and just brings such peace. I know people who love concrete and steel and hardly ever step foot on grass. I don't think I could live such a life. I'd go crazy. Maybe those people do but it's hard to distinguish them from all the other crazy people. I'd rather run in fields of green and trees and play in rivers and creeks and relish every bit of it. I love seeing animals in their native habitats doing what they should be doing. I watch the ducks fly and land in the water and paddle all around preening and looking very beautiful and I just give thanks. I get to see that and share other people the beauty that is nature!