God is the world’s best artist.  He created the most beautiful universe, and He didn’t even use a paintbrush! He created heaven, the planets, the sun, the moon, and the stars, and the beautiful Earth, which has many special features.

              Beaches are havens of happiness. They have palm trees with stiff green leaves and hard, brown coconuts and shiny wooden trunks of deep brown. There are reeds that grow on the dunes. They wave their long, thin, coarse, green and yellow selves up into the air, almost being pulled away by the wind. The salty wind sweeps the golden grains of sand along the shore. If you try hard enough, you can taste the salty, fresh air in the wind. You can hear the gulls crying and singing their off-key tunes. The ocean is like a queen, spread out in her  best gowns of blue. The boats, her loyal subjects, are now at the mercy of their queen. Foamy whitecaps break out along the shore, covering the shore in a liquid snow. The beach is dotted with shells of different colors and, at dusk, the whole beach becomes silent, except for the gentle whoosh of the waves upon the sleeping sand. 

              Mountains crown the world with their towering heights. They must have married the ocean, for they are the kings of their domain.  Animals seek shelter in the rocky terrain. The tops touch the sky, bumping into the clouds. Their peaks are covered with untouched snow. They are sometimes carpeted with the deep green of forests where trees live and grow. Other times, the kings decide that they would prefer to dress in rocky gray and change their crowns from green to white. People think that rocks never grow. But they are oh! so wrong. Secretly, quietly, they do.   Higher and higher they reach, and they can’t quite go higher, but if they could, they would pluck a star from the night heavens. 

              Forests are like patchwork quilts. They blanket the ground, covering everything with green. They are but simple earls. In the spring, their branches stretch and sprout little green buds. Then, out peek little flowers, shy to the world and frightened. But, the world is patient. It warms itself, sending streams of golden sunbeams down to the frightened flowers, who stop peeking and burst into bloom. Yellows, pinks, oranges, purples, reds, whites,  cover tree and bush, who smile proud and content.  All through the summer, their green leaves shimmer in the daylight and rustle in the windy night.  Creatures teach their offspring how to hunt, escape dangers, mate, defend themselves, and how to live. Finally, autumn rolls around  and the animals sleep or go south. The leaves turn from deep green to flitting, delicate reds, browns, and oranges that flutter to the ground every second. In winter, the trees snuggle in tight, waiting for spring to come again.

              And when you are grown and go out into the world, prepare to be amazed.