What is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?

My children being delivered at birth. (You may count this as four posts, so that I do not have to choose among them.)

I answered a similar question before.

My response.

Around 1998 there was a comet that swung by. It had a Japanese name. But I don’t remember it.

So I was at work at the movie theater one night and David was staring into the sky with binoculars. I asked him what he was looking at and he told me about the comet. It was barely visible to the naked eye. (light pollution)

The next night some friends wanted to go up to cougar hot springs. This is high up in the Cascades. So we were in the hot springs and I saw the same comet. But it was huge. Like it covered a quarter of the sky. It was amazing.

I felt small. I was still under the same delusion that I was invincible. But I realized I wasn’t. There was more out there. I’m not talking about god. I’m talking about beauty. And that is when I became a hippy that hates hippies.

My daughter’s smile :)

Art: Any random sculpture of Niki de Saint Phalle link
Mona Lisa didn’t do it to me though.

Sport: Usain Bolt made me shed a tear yesterday, to be honoust

When i saw my girlfriend reading a text under a painting in a church, last fall (she was some 10 metres away from me and didn’t notice i was watching her).

It is impossible to pick out one thing, I am surrounded by it. The rock art that is reputed to be 30,000–60,000 years old. The dramatic beauty of the red center. And the beaches in Australia, each time I think I have seen the most beautiful, I come upon another that is even moreso.

And of course, my dog, she is the prettiest thing I have seen in years, she prances like a show pony and leaps like a deer.

Every one of Maiden’s albums cover art
Yes even X-factor.

Yosemite in the spring…bright blue skies, lush green meadows, the falls large and very active. See ya….Gary aka wtf

@rebbel The girlfriend thing sounds wondrous.

@whatthefluther I really need to go on a roadtrip.

@Grisaille…..Include Sequoia/Kings Canyon and the Coastal Redwoods and Big Sur and the Monterey Peninsula and…...................

I’m thinking of riding from here to L.A. and staying there for a few days or so.

Then head up north to see the fields, lava-carved caves, coastal scenery, cliffsides etc. Take two weeks just driving and exploring.

are you going to Universal studios?

Lovers smiling in sleep when I reach out to stroke them.

@teh_kvlt_liberal No. I tend to shy away from tourist destinations like that.

Not that there’s anything wrong with tourist destinations, I’m more of a scenery, secluded dude, is all.

@hungryhungryhortence ...

A double rainbow on the Australia’s National Highway 1 outside of Brisbane.

When I lived in missouri, we were in a town of 800 people. Forty miles from the nearest Walmart or McDonalds. Atleast a thousand acres of corn and wheat surround this fragment of land and people. At night there would only be one street light on next to this gas station. We would walk into these corn fields at around 2 in the morning, and lay down to look at the stars. It was devistating to see the milkyway and all of the stars in the sky. It was close to impossible to make out constellations, but it was ecstasy. Another is looking into my ex-girlfriends eyes, inside was black with an undetermined sunflower yellow, encompassing the pupil, and on the outer edge they are green. It was like looking into a large sunflower, and a jade green field behind it.

@rooeytoo…May I ask what breed your dog is? That sounds like my Italian Greyhound, Spencer. He’s a beautiful blue faun and white and he high steps when prancing and runs like pure beauty in motion.
@Grisaille…..Let me know when you are headed this way…..maybe we can get some of the other locals (even Andrew) together for some drinks….first two rounds on me!

I remember visiting New Hampshire’s White Mountains during mid-September about 8–10 years ago. The fall foliage was the most colorful I had ever seen in my life. Driving around one day, a raincloud came in and it started drizzling. The clouds, the fall colors, and the tall mountains created one of the most mountain vistas I had ever seen. Man, I wish I had been carrying a camera!

@whatthefluther oh, yeah.

I missed you the last time I was there. You ain’t hidin’ from me this time.

A mother and baby humpback whale off of Maui, Hawaii. The baby was frolicking around its mother leaping out of the water, smiling and obviously delighted with itself.

@Grisaille…..Hiding? Heavens no. The wedding happened after you left town. Now I’m in permanent, non-stop party mode…..for eternity! See ya….wtf

A first snow. I’m a Florida boy who went to college in Connecticut and had never seen snow; well, had never seen a lot of snow. That first year, it snowed like 27” on New Year’s Eve starting at 7pm. I couldn’t stop staring out into the dark but somehow brilliant white woods. Throughout the night I’d put on my coat and traipse out in the cold until I was numb, come back in to warm up, and then do it over again until I was exhausted.

I think I grew more that winter as a person than I ever had or would.

The 2nd time I saw my son. The first time I saw him was such a blur, but the second time was magic.

For the non-mommy answer, I would have to say the time I drove through a small town that had been hit by an ice storm. It was amazing. Every last inch of everything was coated in ice which made the whole place look like it was made of glass. A glistening glass fantasy world. It was almost sci-fi.

When I was passing through Montana at night, I was able to stop and look up at the stars. And stars there were. I have never to this day seen the night-sky like I did then. It was so amazing and beautiful that it made me want to cry.

Crater Lake. Surrounded by hills, forest and mountains. I have never seen that kind of blue in water before and it was stunning. Pictures do not do it justice.

Old lava flows. Grey, massive, stretching for miles. Nothing but tiny flowers were able to grow for as far as the eye could see. It was as if I was on another planet.

Whales off the coast of Port Orford. First time I had ever seen them in person and it took my breath away. They are truly majestic creatures.

Last winter we had a snowstorm hit Portland. Snow was past my hips in most areas. Not only was that the most snow I had ever seen in my life, it was also the first white Christmas I’ve ever experienced.

A couple of winters ago, my family and I got snowed in when the mid-west got hit by a huge snowstorm. We went out front to begin to shovel the five feet of snow in the front yard, and my 10 year old golden retrievers came outside with us. My old, arthritic dog loves snow and we would shovel some and he would begin to chase it. It was like you could actually see the years lift out of him, and he was a puppy again. Barking and rolling, and he would chase me and my sister around in the snow. I could see how incredibly happy that dog was to be with his family, all of us together, playing and laughing. The effect it had on my family was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. To this day, it puts a big smile on my face when I think about it. Maybe it’s not a beautiful painting or monument, but it was one of those moments that you always remember.

@PerryDolia….Great question. I’m loving this thread and the variety of answers: people, animals, scenery, art, weather, the stars….

@johnpowell: Here are your comet choices, from the same question.

”@johnpowell: Comet Hyakutake the spring of 1996 and Hale-Bopp in the spring of 1997.”

I forgot the pioneer cemetery in Idaho. It was on top of a small hill that overlooked the center of a cobbled street in the center of town. The view and the cemetery itself were beautiful.

”..most beautiful thing….seen..” today?

The strolling wing beats, flying right to left, four feet above a ‘ripe for harvesting’ wheat field, of a pristine heron.
Sublime.

Giving birth to my two children.

Today, I too saw a heron. It pulls its legs in when it flies and looks like a pteradactyl.

When I was in highschool we had a required amount of community service to complete before graduation. Part of mine was to go to the homes of some elderly couples who had a hard time doing certain chores around the house, cooking, etc.

The third time I did this I told to go to a home in a somewhat run down part of the city. It took me almost two hours to find this house, it had to driveway so I parked a couple blocks down. This little home was nothing more than a glorified cabin, like it was there before the city was. Crooked shutters, vines on the chain link gate, brown patches on the tiny lawn from whatever old and decrepit house pet that lived there, whether it was the couples pet or it was just a stray I don’t know, I didn’t want to ask.

I knocked on the door for almost ten minutes before anyone came to the door, they had six locks. Both of them greeted me at the door, they probably didn’t get many visitors. The old man, his name was Luc, he was skinny and slumped over, droopy, is a good term, but you could tell that when he was young he was fit and rugged, like the soldiers you saw on propaganda posters from WWI. He smiled at me and introduced himself.

The old woman, Suzan, she was small, for some reason I noticed her ankles were turned in, and her toes pointed down and she was a little wobbly, like an antique flapper. She was surprised to see me, and asked my name twice.

I spoke with them for a while together, Luc held Suzan’s hand the whole time, the conversation was painfully slow and repetitive. Luc then took me into the kitchen while his wife wondered into the den. He was a smart man, the years treated him well, but not his love. Suzan had Alzheimer’s, as I had thought, he said to make some nose every five or ten minutes if I’m in a different room than her, she may forget I was there and get startled otherwise.

He told me where I could help, shook my hand, thanked me, and then went into the Den with his wife. Then it happened.

She was on a sofa chair on the right side of the room, he knelt down next to her, which didn’t look comfortable I thought. He held her hand, kissed it, and said “I love you.”
She looked at him and said “I love you too.”

For the first time in my life I saw that nothing can destroy love. I went outside to smoke a cigarette and shed a tear.

@ABoyNamedBoobs03 – wow nice story and shows a different aspect of the boob boy! Thanks for sharing.

@whatthefluther – I think my dog has some hound in her somewhere, could be greyhound or whippet. She looks very much like a Canaan hound or Ibezan. She is an Aboriginal camp dog and they are hard to pin down. You can absolutely see a lot of dingo in her, her grandmother looks almost pure dingo. Camp dogs have evolved from dingos and whatever dogs white people have introduced. Also it is interesting that most believe that Asia and Australia were once connected and I see a definite likeness between dingos and akitas. She is as smart as an akita and dingo and cunning as well. She does prance like a hackney pony, and when she is on a scent her head and coal black nose so high in the air. She is like a combination of sight and scent hound, she does both.

If you get me started on my dogs, I will blather on forever, forgive me!

That is her pic as my avatar, her name is Town Dog because she was born in town and is not a “bushie” dog.

My wife to be walking down the aisle.

I knew she was beautiful, but on that day, she was a goddess.

this guy…

when going to Oregon, there’s this lake that we go to…it’s amazing, the smell is amazing. It’s very fresh

Thanks @ABoyNamedBoobs03, that is a beautiful little story.
Tears behind my eyes. One even rolled out.

I would have to say the girl depicted in this pic: http://www.mam.org.mt/pics/imagebank/Kates_camera_100.jpg
I heard about her on the news (unfortunate story) and looked her up to read about the story and found this picture.

The most beautiful thing is when my husband plays guitar and sings songs that he writes for me and the kids, who are also the most beautiful things

@gailcalled The resemblance to the pteradactyl is reinforced if they speak while flying overhead. It is amazing to me that such a beautiful, elegant bird can have such an unmelodious, squawking caw.

@gailcalled :: pretty sure it was Hyakutake. That was a long time ago and I’m not really sure what I had for dinner last night.

The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen was the sunset in the beach. I remember I was messing around in the beach with my family and I was wearing goggles and everything was blue and I was swimming,swimming,and having fun.Then my dad told us that we had to go and I took off the goggles and I saw the sunset and it was beautiful and it amazes me the most.
Another time me and my family were taking a walk outside and it was really dark and everything was soo pretty,the stars were out and sparkling beautifully and the moon was out and looked awesome as ever! :)
@PerryDolia Lurve for that question! :)

An Indiana sunset, the sky was almost purple, there was a light drizzle, and fireflys were hitting the windshield and smearing like some neon spiderwebs, and of course then there’s me

its soooo beautiful…..

My Mom cry when she saw my niece for the first time. My sister and her husband brought her home on the plane from China. And my Mom, along with the rest of the family waited so long for that little one. When my sister got off of the plan with my baby niece, she ran to my Mom, they embraced and they both cried.

@ABoyNamedBoobs03: What an experience!
whenever I see elderly couples in public who still hold hands and genuinely show interest in each other’s conversations then it makes me want that very badly, almost believe I could have it too.

i married her!

Also the beauty of huge mosh pits when Kreator played in NYC. While they may not be the biggest ever, but damn, it was just so awesome to witness and participate in. PLEASURE TO KILL!

The letter I got from the State of California telling me my divorce was final.

Oh, yeah. That seeing my kids being born crap was nice too.

@uberbatman – that is totally strange and wonderful and poignant and a whole bunch of other things I can’t quite verbalize. I think the bag alone would have been enough, I really didn’t need the people and the dialogue.

this. http://www.stationzer0.com/lost-images/evangeline_lilly_LOST.jpg

@futurelaker88 beauty really is in the eye of the beholder, eh?

@Marina: You are lucky. I have never heard the heron vocalize. (I hate to shop also.)

At my yearly trip to the Oncologist’s, there was an elderly couple sitting across from me in the waiting room. The woman was emaciated and had about ¼” of hair. She was clearly the patient. I looked over and watched her husband pick up her hand and kiss it.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir – lol i guess so. and shes not even a model, just a small time tv actress who’s not really in the hollywood scene

There was a lightning storm here last summer. It was dusk. None of the lightning bolts were visible. They were all in the clouds. The clouds would just light up from the inside like Christmas lights. The bursts of light were very frequent, several in a few seconds, then a pause, then several again. They were in all directions. The thunder just rolled on and on.

It was gusty, but not raining. We walked to a place where we could get a good view in all directions and stood out there until the rain finally came and drenched us. It was ethereal.

This may sound corny but the most beautiful thing I have ever seen is my girlfriend. Especially when she get’s that loving smile that melts my heart.

@doggywuv that girl’s eyes are pretty interesting.

@uberbatman : I was wondering who would be the first… :o)

@Corey_D : Awwwwwww!

I love these questions… so much beauty in the world! My answer from previous, similar questions:

I had an appointment in a town I’d never been to, and had to bring the girls along. We arrived very early and rather than have them bored out of their minds sitting in a waiting area forever, we explored a little. We found a lovely pond, bordered by a small wooded area and decided to hang out there for a while. While walking through the woods, we came upon a large circle of damp soil upon which hundreds of butterflies were resting. We crept up to the edge of the circle, marveling at finding such a thing. We crouched to get a closer look, and they suddenly started flying up and around us. As we stood, it was like being in the middle of a tiny butterfly tornado. The joy that moment brought all of us is nearly indescribable. As we had obviously disturbed their environment, we only stayed a moment or two before respectfully backing away and watching them return to their rest. Just thinking about it now brings a smile to my face. :)

The time that my wife and I were camping out on the beach near the Mississippi River, sitting around a small fire and just fishing and enjoying the time we were being together. We heard this odd squawk, and I stood up to peer into the dark to try and figure out what it was. Then it happened. A great Blue heron flew right over my head low enough that I could have reached up and touched it, and it made that squawking noise again as it passed over. That was an awesome experience, and being that close to a wild bird of such an impressive size will always be a very beautiful memory.

I saw one of these in my yard the other night, and they are one of the most beautiful insects alive.

These are my favorites as well, as their coloration is quite striking. Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder.

The view from one of the bridges overlooking the Thames in London at midnight.

me…when I was thin?

no..urrm…one of these
or these
or these

@lynneblundell-
Or perhaps one of these?

… um…

<runs away>

I still think that these are beautiful. That’s part of the reason I raise them.

The ocean at any time, anywhere!

@evelyns_pet_zebra you raise cockroaches? may I ask why, out of curiosity?

Oh, I almost forgot! A few years ago, I was riding the F train out to Coney Island one September afternoon. During a portion of the trip, the train came above ground as usual, and suddenly there were swarms of Monarchs flying along either side of the train. After maybe five minutes, the train had to make a turn, and all of us in the car could see the butterflies continue southward for a while. Turns out that September is when Monarch butterflies migrate to South America and we were with them for part of their trip down.

@aprilsimnel What an incredible sight. I lived on Staten Island as a child and one of the best parts of summer was seeing the monarchs feeding from the milkweed. I have never seen them in such numbers since.

@ABoyNamedBoobs03 partly because I have always been fascinated by insects, and these are so docile and harmless that they make great pets. They are also big enough not to get lost, and they are fun to have around. A friend gave me 10 of them two years ago, and I have almost 300 now. I have given them away to other people, and they are very interesting pets.

I’d rather raise spiders, but the only spiders that one can keep easily as a pet is tarantulas, and I really have no desire for them. Tarantulas have abdomen hair that is very irritating to human skin. I prefer jumping spiders, as they are very cute and have a wonderful attitude, but I’m not sure I could get one to survive. Killing a spider by keeping it in captivity seems cruel. So I play around with the wild spiders, eventually letting them go and raise madagascar roaches because they are just so much fun to have as pets.
Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches are the only bug that makes noise by blowing air out their breathing tubes. They don’t carry disease, they don’t bite, they can’t infest your house, and they don’t smell bad. I also think that they are cute. =)

I once saw a sunrise from a jet that was on a steep ascent through rain clouds. The purples, golds, blues, whites and greys were absolutely spectacular. It was a sight fit for angels.

@evelyns_pet_zebra my sister kept 2 of them before. You’re right, they are quite fascinating creatures. I opted for an emperor scorpion instead though :P

Holding my children for the first time.

My children seeing mountains for the first time. They were so excited and I was so excited for them. Watching my 15 year old son grab the camera to take pictures made me very happy!

A thunder snowstorm that lasted for an hour. I’ve witnessed these storms before, but they usually only last a few minutes. I stared out the window the entire time.

A Lake Superior sunset. Absolutely amazing!

The Denver Broncos beating the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII. The best Super Bowl ever. imo

@futurelaker88 She is a beauty.

The sunset in Monument Valley in Utah. It’s so beautiful out there. And when you think about it a little bit more, and how long those rocks have been there, you feel small and insignificant but in a good way. It’s so interesting.

Also, the Steelers coming back to win the Super Bowl last year…....took my breath away, maaaan.

And golden retriever puppies.

@deni…Monument Valley is very beautiful and intriguing. I was there with several friends quite a few years ago when suddenly the place emptied out for no apparent reason. All the Native Americans packed up their vehicles and were gone, in what seemed to be less than a minute. We just looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders. In another moment, we were in the middle of a severe dust storm that continued for several minutes. Luckily we were very close to our vehicles and got to cover quickly. It was an eerie feeling hearing and seeing all that dust pelt the vehicles., We subsequently found out that dust storms are frequent (they are largely responsible for the rock formations or “monuments”) and the locals always have an eye out in the distance and read the storms (direction and distance) very well. See ya….Gary aka wtf

@whatthefluther That is so neat! I’m jealous you got to experience such a thing. I had no idea dust storms had anything to do with it. Well, I guess I’ve never read much about it, but now I will!

@deni bah you guys are spoiled, what is that, two the past four years now? try being a bills fan.

@ABoyNamedBoobs03 Well maybe we are a bit spoiled NOW but before winning our fifth super bowl we were in quite a dry spell….lol

See you this week!

@deni haha best of luck.

The pictures sent by Mars Express.

1.Holding my neice for the first time and feeling her little heart beat so gently. I thought she was the most beautiful perfect thing I have ever seen.
2.My husband.

AVATAR by James Cameron

@Moejoeking Welcome to Fluther. Lurve.
And that comment is a joke, right?