Got home last week from a two weeks holiday with my in-laws. Being with Philippe I realize one thing - how little I knew about nature. Not the type of nature that calls you to the toilets but about plants and flowers and our surroundings. I can name no more than 5 flowers as we take walks in the forest, while Philippe knows each and every single flower to trees to weeds there are. As we walk in the forest, he can name me almost every single plant there is. I on the other hand, can tell you where to get the good bargains on clothes or when the next sale will be on. I have never really been an outdoor or a sporty person. Although I tried desperately to believe that I was, but the only kind of sport or exercise that I ever got into was done in a gym, a salsa club or endless walking during the Singapore sales and muscle building while carrying shopping bags. And I realized that while I was living and working in Singapore, I lived in such a material world. A world that consist of working to earn money so I can go shopping. Well, there is not much to do in a tiny country like Singapore apart of shopping.

I am grateful as Phil has allowed me to see the beauty of nature through his eyes. He points out the way the trees changes through different season from autumn to winter, from winter to spring. He shows me how the trees changes color through the seasons and points out the birds that are migrating and crosses countries to avoid winter. Its not something new to me living in a country with four seasons as I spent 8 years in Australia, it is just that I never did take the time to notice these things. The only seasons I did take notice was the new clothes in the display windows or the different decorations during Christmas or Easter at shopping centers.

I thank Philippe for sharing his world with me. The sad part is that some things that are so beautiful are right in front of our eyes but we never see it and is taken for granted. The same applies for the people around us.