Last year I started a photography project where I took a picture a day for an entire year. There were so many days in the beginning when I’d be at a loss what to photograph–there wasn’t anything going on that day! But as the days passed, my eyes were opened to the true purpose of this type of endeavor – kind of like those gratitude journals – to notice those little things that make up our lives, those details that we perhaps appreciate on some level, but don’t really pay much attention to.

Today as I was bringing the kids back from the bus stop my eyes were drawn to the little wooded area next to our driveway. The sun was shining on the nandina and making those red berries look like they were exploding with color. I could say it took my breath away, but that would be a little trite and over-exagerated. But they were really pretty, so I went in and picked my camera off the kitchen counter (where it tends to live) and took the time to capture them so that I could always remember those little jewels.