Anne and Beauty in the Natural World

I really can't tell you how many times I've read Anne of Green Gables. I'm slightly embarrassed to say that I had forgotten that I read this story back in February . . . of this year. But I'm not ashamed to say that I enjoyed it all over again.

In my nightstand post last month I said that I was really hoping to spend some time with Anne in June if I could. Now, I'm the type of person who has to read a series in. order. Even if I'm really interested in only reading Book 3, I feel compelled to start back at the beginning and work my way through. (I find this fact irritating myself, in case you wondered.) What I most want is to jump ahead a little and re-familiarize myself with the adult Anne. Like I said though, no complaints about having re-read the first title in the Anne series. I mean, it just has to be done.

I've said a lot about Anne in the past. In some ways it feels like there really can't be much more to say about her. However, any book that you love will continue to speak to you and such is the case with Anne for me. Once upon a time I listed The Top 10 Reasons I Like Anne of Green Gables and all of those remains much true.

For purposes of this post, I'll focus on #8:

#8 - Beauty takes her breath away. She is constantly in a state of utter, complete and total 'enrapturement' (if she can make up words for herself, so can I!) whenever she sees something that she thinks is beautiful.

Recently Jonathan and I were out on a date night and were exploring an area which is on the other side of a nearby mountain. We were trying to find a garden which we had heard about but failed in that mission. What we did find, however, was a little creek that looked adorable. (Can you call a creek adorable? I guess I just did.) We thought that we'd take the kids there once the weather warmed up. Within these past two weeks we've been experiencing nice hot and toasty weather which gave us the perfect opportunity to take the kids over.

This creek has become my very happy place. I love it like the Lake of Shining Waters or The White Way of Delight. I find it altogether beautiful and when I look at the whole setting, it sometimes takes my breath away. I have loved locations and places for any variety of reasons in the past but there is something about this creek which captures every bit of my imagination and fills me with complete delight. It's my little Prince Edward Island, if you like.

We visited it at the time I was reading Anne of Green Gables and perhaps that linked the two things together in my mind, but I'll show you some pictures and you can judge for yourself. Each bend in the creek is a whole new world and presents a whole new landscape. Every green fern, every bit of Queen Anne's Lace which is scattered about, with the tweeting of the birds overhead combine together in such a way that make me want to, well, live at the creek. (Ha!)

Lucy Maud Montgomery loved nature and her love for the natural world is scattered all throughout her books. For the remainder of this post, I'll share quotes that stood out to me as I read along and pictures from my own little Wonderland. I hope you'll enjoy.

"Oh, pretty doesn't seem the right word to use. Nor beautiful, either. They don't go far enough. Oh, it was wonderful - wonderful. It's the first thing I ever saw that couldn't be improved upon by imagination."
- Matthew Cuthbert is Surprised

The shore road was "woodsy and wild and lonesome."
- Anne's History

This next quote isn't relating to nature but it's still my very favorite sentence in the entire book. I think it describes so much, so simply.

And it's what I think whenever I look at this next photo I took of my boys playing in the creek:

"She thought in exclamation points."
- Mrs. Rachel Lynde is Surprised

Do you have a spot that you just love? Is there some place that you find so beautiful as to be overwhelming? Is there a place you like to explore and/or just drink in? In the words of Davy Keith, "I wanna know!"