Last time I noticed the post showed up in its entirety in the email, but formatted terribly, with the print and the photos too small, and the captions of the photos weirdly off to the side. If it happens again, be sure to click on the title of the post or the WordPress icon or where it says, “Read on Blog.” I promise it’s way better on the actual site. Thanks, as always, for reading these posts!

Now back to Australia:

Once I saw the view from the apartment and we had our first stroll through town, I knew Cairns would not disappoint. We had booked the Great Barrier Reef for Thursday, so on Wednesday we went to the gorgeous, tropical Cairns Botanic Gardens. For this Colorado-dweller, it was almost surreal to park the car and walk right into the jungle. There were intriguing paths forking off in various directions, wood walkways over boggy areas, little bridges over tiny streams, solid stone steps set into slopes. Loved it all. . .. . . even though we had to share it with spiders. . .Most of it was enormous, like houseplants on steroids.My mind went to Gulliver in Brobdingnag. We saw no giants, fortunately, just giant ferns and palms and towering paperbark trees. This arty bench will give you an idea of scale.There’s something about feeling small in the world, wherever one travels, that seems appropriately humbling. Perfect reminder while taking in the beauty of nature.Savoring beauty, whenever and wherever possible, is always a good idea. So I’m praying for you today a chance to appreciate the wonders of nature, preferably to be out in it, filling your lungs with clean, pure, outside air, something I can easily forget to do. But if you can’t today, I hope these pix gave you at least a bit of vicarious refreshment.

This Thanksgiving week, I’m thankful for all these delights, for time with my dear ones, and for you (if you made it this far), even if we haven’t met yet.