If I had a big bouquet of wishes one would be that I could visit Yellowstone National Park.

Located mostly in northwestern Wyoming, it’s 3,000 miles of incredible works of nature.

I am so taken with Yellowstone National Park that I often end my nights with watching videos and documentaries of the natural wonder we call Yellowstone.

I can’t get enough of the beauty of that place.

But watching it makes me aware of the need of expanding my vocabulary. I am so overcome by the unsurpassed works of nature that too many times I find myself saying: Wow! Wow! Then I have to repeat myself with more Wows as I watch exotic animals in their private Yellowstone playground. Again, I have a chorus of wows followed by more exclamations. Trust me, this is not your typical animals in a zoo.

I do have a serious question that keeps rolling through my mind as I watch scenes from Yellowstone National Park: Why did I never know about this place before now?

During the years when my daughters and I did our annual vacation together we first had to vote on where we wanted to go. You can be sure that it was always someplace in Italy because my daughters and I believe that no matter when we go in Italy it’s our version of heaven on Earth.

Looking back, I can’t believe that when we decided to look for a place in this country no one came up with alternatives that pleased all three of us.

I do have to admit I have always had a rather limited version of a family vacation.

Growing up in my big Italian family when we went visiting it was only to drive a half-hour to my Aunt Marg’s house.

Every Thursday our family piled in the car to visit Aunt Marg. We were guaranteed to have great food, lively conversation, plenty of laughs and a good time … so good that we were ready to do it again the following week.

It wasn’t until I was married that we had a true family vacation.

That meant I had to save a little each week to afford going to the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a family vacation. We thought our two weeks at the seashore were a little bit of paradise.

We went to the same place in Kitty Hawk every year until my daughter Andrea said she and her family wanted to go to a different place each year.

“There are too many great places worth seeing to keep going to the same place,” Andrea said.

My husband and I continued our Outer Banks vacation each year while my daughter and grandkids went on to have their own fascinating trips.

But I never heard about the glory of Yellowstone National Park. Andrea said they always wanted to do it “some day.”

It was YouTube that introduced me to the unbelievable trips in Yellowstone.

When my husband saw how mesmerized I was watching Yellowstone footage, he said that we should go.

I told him the truth. Our time for long, demanding trips is gone. But that’s OK because I can still enjoy every bit of it on YouTube.

My husband cuts me a lot of slack, but he was quite clear in saying he thinks I’m limiting myself too much. This from the guy who has refused to fly for the past 10 years. Now he insists we can do the Yellowstone adventure walks. I think he was having a pipe dream when he said it.

We can’t get those years back, and we can’t return to the stamina and health we had 10 years ago.

You know the old expression “What is, is.”

Well, I’m a realists and I know how much is doable for me and how much is no longer possible. We can no longer trounce over mountain ranges and go on long hikes though swamps and over rugged mountains.

But that’s OK. We can see more without doing all that, through the technology of television.

Yes, Yellowstone is extraordinary. But there is beauty all around us. All we have to do is be aware of it.

No matter where I have lived, I have celebrated the beauty of around me.

Now that I live in Florida there are so many wonderful things worth seeing. I get up every day with the mission to soak in all the beauty around me.

When I lived in Pennsylvania with its scenic mountains we had the added bonus of a different kind of beauty every season. I still remember how I thrilled each year to the first flowers of spring.

We lived against a mountain, which meant we had the added pleasure of seeing bear, deer and other wildlife.

No matter where I live I have always made it a practice of walking after dinner to see the beauty around me.

If we only look for nature’s gifts when we only are on vacation we cheat ourselves.

Yes, places like Yellowstone are spectacular works of nature. But no matter where you live, there is beauty all around you.

Don’t miss it.

Email Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net