Stunning natural gifts abound - and so many are easily come by (and those that aren't are well worth seeking out).

A sand dollar may not be so very one-of-a-kind as many gifts from nature are, since all those of a species pretty much look alike... but what an aesthetic gift from the sea, especially to the land-locked!

Most lovely found natural objects are eminently contemplatable... Pine (or spruce or fir) cones; crystal formations; blocks of obsidian; sparkly rocks; delicate seashells; intriguing fossils; incredible, unfathomably intricate feathers - these are some of the things that I’ve given (and that I keep around me - especially the ones that have been given to me). Once I found a quartz rock with a dark, sparkly angel’s wing embedded in it... It’s on my window sill - I gave it to my mother... and she left it for me to enjoy!

Then, there’s something special about rust... to some people, anyway! I love an old thing with a history, and rusted metal objects of yore definitely have a cachet of their own. And weathered wood... mmm, too. My interest in archaic wagon wheels, grinding stones, logging tools, etc. is shared by plenty of folks... who would love that old barnwood picture frame you make, or that fused-but-beautiful old pipe wrench you dredged up from your yard!

Does this sound silly? - I assure you it is not!:  A friend gave me a beautiful broom to sweep with so that I’d like doing housework! (She knew I’d be receptive to the broom, because I have a gorgeous woven-oak-strip laundry basket that I love to use - it actually makes doing laundry approach the enjoyable.) The broom is handcrafted, with a good-to-the-touch tree-branch handle... an art object I keep on display in the living room (and its heft gives me a good workout too - another layer!).

And of course, paintings, photographs, music, embroidery, films - all the fine arts, all the uplifting sights and sounds they afford... Or simply, and powerfully, an introduction to a person who has great incandescence to offer... Whether they’re fleeting experiences or physical embodiments, such gifts can be exceedingly prized.