The February Joy Dare earlier this week was to find gifts in three things outside.  Easy peasy, I thought.  And it was.  I found more than three gifts, which made up for the day I couldn’t find three gifts when bent over(!).

• The brilliance of the full moon shining into the skylights in the early hours of the morning.  The backyard is so bright, there are shadows.  I find it beautiful and mysterious and could look at it for a long time without thinking any particular thoughts.  The beauty of a bright night is enjoyable just as it is.
• A heavy frost on the cars and roadways.  I’d rather not scrape the frost off the car, but the roadsides were pretty for my morning commute.  More heavy frosts (and some sustained cold) would also help kill some bugs before summer comes.
• A pale and delicate sunrise, with tints of silver, orange, and lavender.  The sun was behind thin clouds, giving it a translucent yellow appearance.  I was driving and had to pay attention, but this is something else I could look at for a while simply to enjoy.
• A clean car!  My favorite boy toy showed me the new car wash in town – very nice!  It was well worth the money and I had a nice waiting room as my Honda Civic was vacuumed and wiped down afterwards.
• Gorgeous clouds all day.  They were very wispy and curly, not what I usually see during my lunch walk or from the windows during work.  Something else I could stare at for a long time.
• The full moon again at night, shining from behind thin, filmy clouds.  The clouds were moving quickly.  Even if I’d wanted to photograph the moon, the clouds would have made it all a blur.  I’d love to have recorded it though.

The Psalmist tells us:

When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human being that you care for them?
Psalm 8:3-4 (NIV)

When I look at the moon and the stars, the clouds and the frost, I do consider God’s graciousness in caring for us and providing for us.  I thank him for a day of beauty and that everywhere I looked, it was good.

Over at A Daily Life, a new post links to The Simple Woman’s Daybook.  The daybook has prompts to use in recording your life at the moment, making a mini-time capsule in your diary / blog.  There is also a post about why a field trip can help your blogging and photography.

Here’s one of the cloud pictures that I talked about in today’s post.  Double click it to get a better look at the sky.

Joy Dare Nature clean car clouds moon postaday Psalm 8 sky sunrise