Beauty

I just spent a week in Karuizawa enjoying nature, friends, food, and rest. Although the friend I stayed with was not feeling well, we had a good time. Last Monday while she was helping a friend with her baby at the hospital, I spent the day walking around Karuizawa. I wanted to spend the day walking with God and reading, just enjoying God's presence. As with most people, it is hard to slow down. So, I decided to keep my camera in hand as I walked and take pictures of all of the different flowers I saw. It really helped. In fact, at one point I spent about 20 minutes on a 20 meter stretch of road. (There was one point I flew by a bunch of flowers because all of the tea I had had was ready to leave my body!:)

I have no idea what any of these flowers are, except the thistle. They were all growing along the side of the road-I tried not to wander into people's yards! Here in Izumi where I live I can see the mountains, I have a couple plants sitting by my front door, and there are trees around. However, when I got to Karuizawa and spent a week surrounded by trees I was reminded how important nature is! And, on just that one day walk I was reminded of God's creativity!