What is beauty? Why does Yosemite Valley in its vastness make us dizzy with awe? Why does a ladybug in its miniature perfection stop us in our tracks? Why does a meadow high on a coastal bluff leave us wondering how such a place can even be; and how is it we are standing in that place right now, today?

Last week, as temperatures reached into the 90s, my hiking friend and I needed a trail that would be cool on the brow and easy on the knees. We decided on the reasonably level, three-mile round trip hike to Abbott’s Lagoon at Point Reyes National Seashore.

We slung our packs on our backs and set out, expecting a pleasant afternoon of fresh air and companionship, strolling the seaside patch of wilderness that is Point Reyes.

What we got was — a bouquet.

I know. Nature does not arrange itself into a thing of beauty for the pleasure of a pair of humans on a summer stroll. But what we got last week felt intentional. It felt like a reward for getting out of bed that day. A gift from — somewhere.

Meadow, marsh, lagoon, beach. As we made our way toward the ocean, the landscape shifted with each change in climate and terrain:

• A tall stand of water parsley (Oenanthe sarmentosa) bobbed its white blossoms over our heads.
• Poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum) and California blackberry (Rubus  ursinus) cohabited in a high wall of vegetation abutting the trail — a foot or two from our cheeks.
• Purple lupine punctuated a sea of mauve-colored grass.
• And at the beach, voluptuous clumps of yellow bush lupine (Lupinus arboreus) sprawled in the sun.

Each new microbiome along the trail was its own surprise, with its distinctive burst of grasses, shrubs and wildflowers.

Did I say we were tossed a bouquet? My mistake. We caught bouquet after bouquet that day. One after another.

My friend and I have some years on us — eight full decades each. But walking and breathing at Abbott’s Lagoon on that day — it felt like we were opening our eyes to the world for the first time.

Same topic, different mood: “Nature — We Love It, But Does It Give a Darn About Us?”  Also “Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder. But What If There Is No Beholder?”