My love affair with our beautiful planet was imbued in me by my mother, Elisabeth Hervic, for whom I have dedicated this project, posthumously. She viewed the world and nature with wonder, always, and became most alive when she was in nature, a trait I have inherited. The story she wrote one beautiful day when she went on a walk with her three year old grandson, Nicolas (Nic) was re-discovered many years after she died, just at the time when Nicolas, her grand-son, became a first time father, as did his sister, named for the grandmother she never met, Elisabeth, (Liz). I like to think that my mother guided us re-find her story. The story is bursting with love. I hope it fills the world, which is so badly in need of it, and that all may share my mother's wonder at the beauty of Mother Earth. May it bring much joy to all those who read it.