- Because you woke up this morning
- To cheer up someone else
- When you think of someone special
- Your best childhood memory
- Libraries are full of free books
- When you hear a child laugh
- Because there are green trees and smiling flowers on this planet
- The night is full of stars and moonlight and lovely silence
- It’s scientifically proven to elevate your mood
- Beauty is everywhere if you look hard enough
- You have internet access
- You will probably eat a meal today
- Most likely more than one
- Sunshine
- Late spring smells like rain and earth and allergies
- When you go on a walk
- When you go to your job
- When a complete stranger smiles at you first
- Because life is too short to spend in a foul mood
- Because today is an opportunity to do something you’ve never done before
- Because you choose to be happy
Category Archives: Nature
A LIST in pictures – Cancun, Mexico











Bugs I Have Known (But not enjoyed)
- Box elder bugs
- Ladybugs
- Asian beetles
- Roley Poleys
- Crickets (Almost my least favorite)
- Grasshoppers (My least favorite ever)
- Velcro Ninja Beetles (which is what we called them at camp but I don’t know their real name)
- Mosquitoes
- Black flies
- June bugs
- Shad flies
- Silverfish (also known as those horrible antenna-y things)
- Centipedes
- Roaches (as opposed to…)
- Sewer roaches
- Fireflies
- Butterflies
- Caterpillars
- Moths
- Ants
- Fruit flies
- Termites
- Aphids
Green Things (In honor of the upcoming St. Patty’s Day)
- Shamrocks
- The Chicago River on St. Patrick’s Day
- Grass in the spring
- New buds on a tree
- Cash
- The sky when a tornado is brewing
- The Christmas tree still up in my living room
- Moss
- Turtles
- The cover of the book I’ve been reading
- Towels in my guest bathroom
- The Northern Lights
- Ivy
- Poison Ivy
- Apples
- The Green Bay Packers logo
- Broccoli
- Spinach
- Dinosaurs (or so we theorize)
- Oscar the Grouch
- Kermit the Frog
- Lizards
- Chameleons
- Kiwi
- Seaweed
- Mint chocolate chip ice cream
- Lime sherbet
- Emeralds
- Watermelon
- The new shirt I bought to wear on Monday
- Aged copper
- Avocados
- Jealousy
- Health food
- Romaine Lettuce
- The BP Logo (which, as it turns out, is designed by a friend of a friend)
- Evergreen trees
- Bananas that aren’t ripe

Flowers With Difficult Names to Spell
- Chrysanthemum
- Poinsettia
- Azalea
- Tracelium
- Watsonia
- Godetia
- Hydrangea
- Anemone
- Nasturtium
- Bouvardia
- Eucalyptus
- Cymbidium
- Phlox
- Fuchsia
- Saponaria
- Ranunculus
- Cirsium
- Helleborus
- Lisianthus
- Ageratum
- Coreopsis
- Nierembergia
- Dahlinovas
- Ligularia
- Trillium
- Crownvetch
- Bougainvillea
- Verbascum
- Liatris

