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THERE IS SO MUCH IN NATURE THAT IS PLEASING to me--flowers and trees and most of the plant world, bodies of water large and small, geological formations, and all those heavenly bodies spinning in space, just to name a few off the top of my head (ha! I suppose I should include hair, now that I've been reminded of it, although it's questionable how much that small field of nature pleases me, depending upon the performance on any given day of the portion that grows off the top of my head.) And the whole animal kingdom is fascinating, but there are many members of it that I'm pretty sure I would not have tossed into the created universe if I'd been assigned the project. For example, here is a specimen that I happened to notice the other day, crawling along the balcony railing:


Considering this fellow's close proximity to the door which opens into the bedroom in which I sleep, I can't say that I found him pleasing. In fact, he tended to give me the creeps (yes, my skin was crawling faster than this guy*[to be honest, he wasn't moving at all].) Part of the problem, I'm afraid, is that my imagination was also pretty active--running a wee bit wild, presenting me with thoughts of this creature a hundred times larger. Or maybe even a thousand times his current size, his long jointed legs clinging to the side of the house, poking a proboscis through the screen of the balcony door and giving me Halloween nightmares.

And then there are weeds and mice and fungus and mold and groundhogs and skunks (I should stop right there) I could add to the list of undesirables lurking in nature's corners. But today I was looking at the brilliant fall landscape and studying the flowers that surround my porch (they are dressed for their season finale) and I thought once again how the creepy and annoying and downright unpleasant aspects of nature are exceedingly outweighed by its splendors.





*How do you feel about long-legged insects, Dear Reader? Click on the photo of this critter and then imagine the enlarged version comes traipsing across your kitchen counter tonight as you're preparing dinner. Feel the urge to scream?
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