Friday favorites: Mother Nature’s finery

Mother Nature is pretty amazing. So many of us humans spend way too many hours (and dollars) trying to cultivate the perfect yard—a beautifully manicured lawn, framed by meticulously laid out flower beds, with a pond over here, next to this tree. Just let a dandelion or mushroom pop up, and we’ll snatch it out faster than you can holler “Look, over there!” We may even spray a little poison or dig out the roots, just to make sure it doesn’t sneak back in the night with friends.

Then there’s Mother Nature. She flings her flowers…her grass…her trees…her ponds…seemingly at random, and it’s breathtaking. I had the pleasure of hiking through Mother Nature’s “yard” this weekend from Albion Base to Cecret Lake. The photos from that trek make up this week’s Friday Favorites. Of course, my feeble attempts at photography don’t do justice to the real thing. If you live in Utah, I highly recommend this 5-mile hike, which starts at the top of Little Cottonwood near Alta.

Friday favorites: Mother Nature's finery

Friday favorites: Mother Nature's finery

Friday favorites: Mother Nature's finery

Beautiful Cecret Lake in Little Cottonwood Canyon Utah

Ashley, Christie, and Cindy at Cecret Lake

A couple of other items of note from this week.

I went with Larry to his 40th high school reunion–that’s right, 40 years since he graduated high school!

Friday favorites: Murray High School Class of 77 Reunion

And we went shopping with Maddi and out to dinner to celebrate her 12th birthday. I can’t believe she’s on the verge of being a teenager. Yikes!

Friday favorites: dinner with Maddi at Red Robin

***Your turn***

What did you do this week that you would like to share?

Do you have a favorite hiking trail?

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

You may also like

  • Thank you notes: little bits of gratitude from November 2021

    Thank you Carmine’s Italian Restaurant… …for the delicious fettuccine allo scoglio and the pleasant atmosphere in which to enjoy it. Thank you to my sisters for creating a tradition of girls’ dinner. I love our time together. Thank you Halloween candy… …for being so colorful and fun to sort through, even without eating. Of course,…

  • Friday favorites: a beautiful day in the neighborhood

    Happy Friday! It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood! Actually, it’s been a beautiful week around here–weatherwise and otherwise! 🙂 I hope yours was the same. Saturday was perfect football weather (yes, you can find football in the spring if you know where to look). These girls are 12 years old and fierce! I couldn’t…

  • Thank you notes – March 2019

    It’s easy to get so caught up in the hustle of life that we forget to appreciate the small miracles that happen every day. I created the monthly Thank You Notes post to help me relive the happy moments, savor the gratitude, and share them with you. I hope they also inspire you to think about…

  • Thank you notes – January 2019

    It’s easy to get so caught up in the hustle of life that we forget to appreciate the small miracles that happen every day. I created the monthly Thank You Notes post to help me relive the happy moments, savor the gratitude, and share them with you. I hope they also inspire you to think about…

  • September celebrations

    “We throw a wet blanket of ho-hummery over our lives when we live in fear of what others might think, instead of celebration of who we are.” ~Jen Sincero I chose CELEBRATE as my 2026 Word of the Year (WOTY). One way I’m putting that word into practice is to take note of the many…

  • Friday favorites

    Last Tuesday I asked you to share some of the things that bring you joy. I know I have much to be happy about. Here’s just a sampling. Friday morning started out great with my daily walk in Kauai. This time I counteracted all that healthy activity with a delicious pumpkin macadamia muffin. (Hey, I worked hard for…

4 Comments

  1. We hike all over our corner of west Texas. And I once wrote a post about not having a beautifully manicured garden but having the flowers of the Chihuahuan desert in my ‘backyard’. I often feel guilty for pulling a dandelion or flowering weed. High five!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *