The first time I saw this beautiful country where I now live was when I visited a good friend after taking my daughter Emma to a summer camp in Vermont. I grew up and worked in big cities from Philadelphia to Boston To New York City. I had never spent much time in nature or thought about it. My friend moved away abruptly, but I’m still here, and I’m not going anywhere.

But when I came to visit, I fell in love with the idea of living close to nature. I knew I had to live up here, and I wasn’t wrong. This revelation changed my life and in many ways, saved it.

I’m a latecomer to nature, but it’s never too late to see the beauty right under my nose, the beauty I never grasped or saw in my urban life. I believe strongly that living in nature is essential for my health and well-being. I can no longer live without it.

Yesterday, as I sat with Zip in a chair outside touching deeply the sunset before, I took a deep breath and thought “What happiness!”, the sunset is so beautiful and I spent so many years without seeing one or recognizing the beauty all around me.

Embracing the beauty of nature has made my life so much more beautiful and much more real, and the more time I spend in nature sitting and taking pictures, the more deeply nature reveals itself to me. Maria is far ahead of me when it comes to embracing nature, but I’m very happy with what I see and feel all around me. It has been so good for me.

My happiness has been multiplied by a dozen. My photography is a direct result of seeing the beauty around me and coming to believe it is my mission to capture that beauty and share it.  I met Maria here in a hamlet with more cows than people.

My life was enriched by my work with dogs, from herding sheep to therapy work. That brought me to photography. My life began filling up with wonderful things. It was a frightening thing to leave the familiar behind, it was wonderful at the same time.

Every time I take a picture of a lead flower or listen to the song of a bird, I feel closer to them to Mother Earth, and to my reason for being.

It’s so much more peaceful than trembling over the news or wringing my hands over aging.

I often meditate outside and think of mindfulness. My joy increases, my breathing becomes more gentle, and my body changes and brings me closer to the wonder and beauty of life. All this time, it was right there, under my nose, and I can’t even express my gratitude at looking at loving flowers and loving a cat and seeing a sunset before it was too late.

Off to a food shop this morning, and I’m running out of the cannabis that helps me to sleep. More later.