Surprise Glimpses of Nature's Beauty - Charlotte, NC

Nature has a way of striking me with its beauty at some of the most unexpected times. Even though I have always lived in small to medium sized cities, I have always felt more at home in small towns and rural areas. Work is what keeps me in cities and I do admit that I like the variety of activities that are available in a city. The noise, the hustle and bustle, and the concrete just never seem quite authentic. The greater abundance of obvious nature in smaller towns and rural areas seems to appeal to me more. In recent years however I have begun to realize that one does not have to leave the city to experience the wonder of nature. All you really have to do is look around and nature is there. In fact, I am often completely caught off guard by the beauty of nature in a city due mainly to the fact that I simply do not think to look for it.

A very vivid urban nature experience occurred to me earlier this month in Charlotte, NC. We had just recently moved to the Charlotte area and I was still adjusting. Charlotte is several times bigger than the city we lived in before and I was having trouble feeling at home. I had a meeting in downtown Charlotte (actually referred to as Uptown by those from Charlotte) early that morning. The drive in was uneventful. It was foggy and as I approached my destination I noticed that the top of Charlotte’s tallest skyscraper, the Bank of America Tower, was hidden from view. I arrived at my destination at 7:45 A.M. and hurried inside for the meeting.

When the meeting ended at 9:00 A.M. I walked out of the building expecting to see hazy fog. Instead I was greeted by bright sunlight. I was pleasantly surprised and began to open my senses more to the environment around me. I noticed that, contrary to the norm on a day late in July in the Carolinas, there was little humidity in the air. The air felt warm and fresh rather than thick and sticky. There were flowers blooming along the walk that were putting forth a light sweet smell. I heard a bird chirping in a tree nearby. Then I looked up and slightly to my right and saw the most amazing sight. The huge Bank of America Building was glistening in the mid-morning sun. The sun’s rays were reflecting off the tower’s mirrored windows onto the city below. A bright blue and cloudless sky served as the backdrop to this awesome picture. This work of art was a true collaboration between man and nature. Man provided the centerpiece of this work – the skyscraper. Nature provided the blue-sky backdrop, the natural lighting of the sun, the smell of the flowers, and the sounds of the bird. The skyscraper was impressive but it would never have been beautiful without nature’s aesthetic touch.

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