I would be remiss if I left the United States behind without recognizing the incredible beauty of the Northeast.  We visited multiple wineries on Seneca Lake with Prescott’s family:

Here’s Prescott vigorously explaining something or another to his stepdad, Dave, in front of the grape vines:

I visited several New England beaches.  The water is often kelpy and dark and cold, but it’s still wonderful somehow.  My first trip was to Milford Beach in Connecticut …

… where my mom and I enjoyed ice cream novelties:

My mom and I later drove down to the beach in West Haven, Connecticut, to watch the fireworks:

My third beach trip was to Horseneck Beach in Massachusetts, where I journeyed with my dad and aunt for my dad’s birthday…

… and where we found amazing sand castles:

My sister and I visited Ogunquit Beach in Maine …

… which was quite a scene…

… and where we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, despite having to run away (and grab all of our things) from the rapidly encroaching tide multiple times:

Maine also offered long, empty Parson’s Beach near Kennebunkport…

… where we played in the tide pools and found all sorts of cool things:

I also did a bit of beachcombing, which resulted in this scene:

Parson’s Beach (if you go, get there early — there’s almost no parking) is bordered by a beautiful marshy area:

Western Massachusetts has different kind of beauty all its own, from this view down into North Adams, home of Mass MoCA (a tremendous museum)…

… to the view of Sugarloaf Mountain that my mom and I had from our Airbnb room in Deerfield …

… to Montague Falls (if you ever visit, eat at the Alvah Stone restaurant — you can have a great meal with this view)…

… to Shelburne Falls:

The town of Shelburne Falls is also home to the Bridge of Flowers, which is an old trolley bridge that’s been planted from tip to tail in a bouquet of colors:

There are also, of course, the stunning plantings in my mom’s own backyard:

You can even find natural beauty in the cities, from these flowers that I found in Madison Square Park in New York City …

… to this bunny that was hopping around the Case Western Reserve campus in Cleveland …

… to the Arnold Arboretum in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, which I visited with my sister and our friend Kate:

The sunsets were lovely.  Here’s one from Baltimore…

… a quiet one from New Hampshire …

… and sunset over the water on the Connecticut shoreline:

My apologies for not including any particular insightful commentary to this post.  Sometimes you just have to sit back and admire the world outside …