We don’t need Earth Day to remind us that Gaia herself rules the world. Have you ever stopped to marvel at nature? It is particularly striking this time of year in North Carolina. There’s a rainbow bursting in every yard, between the sidewalk cracks, and peeping through fence slats. A carpet of yellow buttercups brightens the stretch of park in front of my house. There are shades of pink and purple and green that neither Crayola nor Opi nor Pantone has quite captured. To look into the frail billows of a blossom is to see Mother Nature’s way of saying life must go on. There are there brittle branches reaching upward, peppered with buds, holding such promise. It is the promise of hope and beauty and what-ifs. Have you stopped to truly appreciate the crunch of the leaves underfoot? It’s so very satisfying to simultaneously feel and hear that sharp cruunnnnch when stepping on the wind blown seeds and nuts littering the sidewalk. The chirping of birds fluttering amongst the brush is nature’s wake up call to beckon a new day. The blooms popping through the mulch and soil, the epitome of delayed gratification from winter’s planting. The smell of a fresh spring rain or the season’s first mowed lawn is sweeter than any perfume. Look up, look down, look around. Colors abound. Light dances. Inhale. Earth’s richness unleashes in marvelous ways as the damp soil prepares to unlock her bounty. Open your eyes wide, shades off for even just a moment, to squint at the sun and feel its light warm your lids. Close your eyes. Feel the touch of Mother Nature, a simple brush across your cheek that leaves you awestruck at her brushstrokes fine and large.