I loved this tree trunk when I saw it, the tale that it told about its life, and the way it looks like a flower or a leaf now.

I’m fascinated with form and texture, and this is another one of those Best Year Ever moments, because I didn’t expect it. I didn’t expect it to be so interesting.

I didn’t expect to be so struck by the beauty of decay.

What are you noticing that you didn’t expect?

I guess the risk of having a decent quality camera in every smart phone is that all of us are drunk with the power and fun of being photographers, and catching the moments.

In one sense, they are just another moment. Every moment in a changing sky can be a sensational one.

This one just caught my eye and tickled me, the way that it looked like an egg, frying in the sky.

What moments are you catching?

Sometimes my Best Year Ever moments show up as appreciation for something else. 🙂

When I saw this straight like of tire tracks in the soot that was the aftermath of our local prairie burn, I was seized with an appreciation of how crooked life is!

A straight path may be the most efficient way to get somewhere, but think of all the great moments and adventures we would miss without the fanciful twists and turns of our lives.

What twists and turns are you celebrating?

After the muted tones of the long winter, I’m delighting in every bit of color, as tiny as it may be.

This new leaf, pushing its way up through the gravel, was no larger than my thumbnail.

It caught my attention because it was boldly out there, so far ahead in its growth than everything around it. And, because it looked like a butterfly.

The butterflies, of course, would be a few more weeks arriving, but this reminder of the triumph of new life enchanted me, just as the wonder and awe of a butterfly might.

What new life are you noticing?

Before you all write to me in protest of the worms, they aren’t worms. 🙂

Although they certainly might be mistaken for worms.

The trickster in me loved this view of the pond surface, just after the neighboring trees dropped all of their blossoms, and scattered their pollen. Because it looked like worms, but also because of the fascinating shapes and color.

This was a very ephemeral moment. By afternoon, the blossoms had disbursed, and this picture was gone. To me, this is what the Best Year Ever is about. Paying attention to the moments that catch my eye, and savoring them.

What are the moments that you are paying attention to?

This daffodil shined its light, in all its glory, for a couple of weeks, and I appreciated it for the whole time it was blooming.

Something about its fullness, color, and grace, took my breath away every time it caught my eye.

To me, this is evidence that the best of life really is in fully appreciating the beauty of the moments. It could be the light in someone’s eyes, the daffodil bloom, or the changing tapestry of the sky.

What is lighting up your life?

This is another photo from a few weeks ago, before our world greened up.

I am enchanted with glass in almost every form. I placed this glass globe in the bed of leaves last fall, never guessing that at the end of winter, when things seemed to be starkest, it would be the only spot of color around.

How I appreciated its color; what a delight it was to gaze at it, knowing that soon it would be joined by all the new greens and blues of Springtime.

What special beauty have you seen today?