* Mother Nature

Living on the property that we do, it gives us full advantage to both observe and appreciate what Mother Nature has to offer.
With the last couple of days being quite rainy I've been marveling at the amazing power of Mother Nature, both in good and in bad.
I LOVE tulips- hands down my most favorite flower! I have even been lucky enough to visit Skagit Valley Tulip Festival while visiting one of my BFFs in Washington, May of 2009. As seen below, I was able to see this little tulip that has been rapidly growing the entire week! She was in full BLOOM on Friday 5.17, just into to wish me a Happy Birthday! ;)
 [isn't she PRETTY!?]
After a couple of heavy downpours and some pretty powerful winds on Sunday 5.19 this big old tree snapped right off and came crashing down..
[another one down...]
Yet Miss Tulip still stands tall & proud- a little closed up and shedding a fear tears but still as beautiful as ever!
 [same tulip just a couple days old on 5.20]
How is it that this delicate little flower is able to withstand the forces of nature and live to see it through while that big ol' tree could not!? Hmmmm....
This kind of thing tends to get me thinking so I feel like I have to share... but for real, isn't nature (generally speaking) a beautiful thing?  **I do want to note that Mother Nature can also be pretty VERY ugly- I am feeling SO sad for those affected by the mile wide/200 mph wind tornado damage in Moore, Oklahoma this week. I am thankful that all I have to worry about at this moment is the pretty flower outside in my front yard and one old fallen down tree