Naturalist Perspectives Challenge 3: AWEsomeness

 For this assignment I chose to visit the chestnut tree down the street from my apartment by the local church. I sat under this tree for a while as I basked in its glory and beautiful changing colors. I chose this spot because it made me feel awe the first time I walked by at the beginning of the year. I find it beautiful that chestnuts have an outer shell that is spikey to protect them, even though they are hard nuts anyway. Going back to this spot only cause me more awe, because the leaves had changed from green to red since the last time I checked. There were even more chestnuts on the floor than I recall, probably due to the fall, and this was even more beautiful than I could have imagined. This initially cause me awe because I never saw these spiked shells before, but when I opened them and did my research it was simply chestnuts! I believe this caused me to feel awe due to the impressive nature of how chestnuts are grown. Like Keltner says, humans are so caught up indoors these days that we do not realize the simple beauty that is right in front of us. If I were to look around more often I would probably see more chestnut trees in the area. Since it is getting colder it is important to experience awe through nature to stay healthy and happy.