Nestled - Bitterroot Valley, Montana

“We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words  - to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it.”

-C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), The Weight of Glory

Breathe In - Salmon Lake, Montana

 “Man cannot do without beauty, and this is what our era pretends to want to disregard.”  - Albert Camus (1913-1960)

 

Thistle Beauty (And The Bee) - Missoula, Montana

“Do not blame the thistle that you see no beauty.”

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Aging Flower Power, Missoula, Montana

Flower photos are typically taken at bloom’s peak, but different details of beauty are discovered if you take a later look.
As I get older, I notice and appreciate more the varied loveliness in people, and often find time has not ravaged but rather revealed. Laughter and sorrow impart warmth and graciousness that gently outshine smoother, less-travelled faces.
Youth can possess a fresh charm but is not the end-all definition of beauty.