Early one January morning I stood in my kitchen wrapped in my thickest, fuzziest robe and slippers and still felt a chill. At 20 degrees, it was unseasonably cold for our area (which is to say, it actually felt like winter).
With a full day ahead, I put aside my to-do list and stopped to look at the view from the picture window. As I lingered there, several small brown birds, a flaming red cardinal, and a squatty gray squirrel hunted for food under the trees, among the shrubs, and in the pine straw. They didn’t seem cold at all—just busy gathering.
The grass in our yard, lush and green a few months ago, now looks tan, sometimes even grey. Dull. A light overnight frost had turned it prickly, and something glinted in the sun.
I pressed my nose to the glass like a kid, squinted like a 50-something, and saw several small, shiny blue things lying in the grass.
What was that?
The frost crystals were capturing the early morning sun like prisms. The result was tiny circles of blue light, probably 15 or 20 of them.
They looked like diamonds shining on a blanket of dormant gray grass.
With the sun’s movement and climbing temperatures, this scene wouldn’t be there long. And if I hadn’t stopped to look out the window, I would have missed it.
I think God gives us diamonds all the time but we don’t see them. We’re too distracted by our own busyness. Or too focused on our to-dos. But those diamonds, those brilliant bits of beauty, are there. We only have to open our eyes, our hearts, and our minds to receive and enjoy them.
If you’re new here, that’s what Glimsen is about: glimpses of the beauty around us in nature, the arts, and the unexpected. Those moments in our lives that make us stop and gasp, that fill us with a sense of wonder, that make us feel more alive and grateful for the experience.
Like I did that frosty morning.
Have you seen any diamonds of beauty lately? I’d love to know. Please leave a comment below.
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Photo of green and white plant by Camille La Brequa on Unsplash
Photo of frost crystals by Ch Photography on Unsplash
Photo of frosty leaves by Lukasz Szmigiel on Unsplash
Photo of frosty grass courtesy of
Photo of brown hydrangea blooms by Dustin Humes on Unsplash