This is not a normal sea. It is a sea full of sturdy stalks, topped by blooms of every imaginable color, trumpeting the arrival of spring. They stretch as far as the eye can see, fading from one color into the next. The blooms beckon to onlookers as they sway in the gentle breeze.

The heritage of these simple, elegant blooms is centuries old. For over 500 years they’ve slowly poked through the cold, damp earth, announcing to all the world that the season has changed and new life is beginning.

There is a place, long since forgotten by time. A place where the blowing grass grows tall around an open doorway. What secrets does it hold? Why is it empty and deserted? It’s a place where your imagination can run wild.

And the place HAS run wild. It’s wild with animals and plants and bugs. They’ve taken it over. Reclaimed it. Made it their home. It’s shelter from the wind that howls across the wide open spaces in winter. In some ways this place has been forgotten, but in others, it has just been discovered.

This is home. There is something so calming about the big lake. The waves carry your troubles away as they roll back out. The air smells different here. The breeze feels different. And it’s nothing but water as far as the eye can see. Footprints are made in the smooth sand, then quickly washed away with crashing waves.

Children and adults alike scour the beach, searching for that infamous stone. A little bit of luck and an eagle eye is all it takes.  There is nothing quite like the feeling of this calm hunt. It’s just you and the lake and your thoughts, together in this peaceful serenity.

This little turtle was a backyard staple. He was always there, wandering five acres of tall grass. You could tell it was him from the battle scars on his shell. Sometimes he was scared and shrank back into his shell like a kid hiding under the bed. But most of the time he just explored the world we shared.

He seemed so confident, out there for a slow stroll. It was as if he owned this land. It was his slice of heaven. And how could I blame him? I loved that land too. We were  bonded by  love for the same small patch of earth.

Sometimes we feel a bit like Alice. Like we’ve chased a white rabbit down a hole and don’t recognize the world in which we’ve landed. It’s a strange and confusing place. Sometimes it’s a place where things just don’t make sense and we wonder how exactly we’ve ended there.

But have no fear. Jump in and learn from the journey. Sometimes we have to make the most out of the situations we find ourselves in. That’s how we grow and learn who we truly are and what we’re made of. It’s often where we learn what’s really important to us.

So come on! Let’s have our Alice moment. Let’s take advice from a blue caterpillar on a mushroom and try something new.

How delicately they’re strung, on thread so strong and fine. These tiny drops of dew, like perfect strands of dainty pearls. It’s  a collaboration that yields one of the most intricate and beautiful things in nature.

Yet, in the blink of an eye, it vanishes as dawn gives way to the sun of a new day. But with a little luck, tomorrow will bring more of the same. The world awakened, draped in fine strands of glittering, shimmering dew; showcasing its delicately natural splendor.