• natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes

    Everything is Green

    June 13, 2021
    Still green at Pineridge Natural Area

    I don’t write out of what I know; I write out of what I wonder. I think most artists create art in order to explore, not to give the answers. Poetry and art are not about answers to me; they are about questions.

    Lucille Clifton

    As of the first of May, Denver and the northern Front Range, have received about 7.5 inches of moisture. Everything’s so green. However, 60% of the rest of the state is still in a severe drought. They say that Colorado farmers can expect the driest year in the past 20 years. We have been hot and dry the last few days so this green will quickly go away. Loving it while we have it.

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  • Black and White,  coffee life,  coffee shops

    Morning Rituals

    June 12, 2021

    morning ritual
    quiet prayer and meditation
    cortado and perrier

    ms

    I’ve mentioned a bit of information on cortados before but here’s more. A cortado is a popular small-sized espresso. The balance between the espresso and milk is 1:1, (about half espresso, half milk). This amount of milk primarily serves to reduce the acidity of the espresso. It also has less froth than a latte. This one made at the Bean Cycle is 2 ounces of equal espresso and steamed milk. The other glass is Perrier water. I buy these once in a while because they have less milk than my latte, an enjoyable coffee flavor when made with good fresh beans and are less expensive. If you are adventurous enough, they can also be made with flavored syrup.

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  • Plants,  poems,  writing/reading

    Sometimes You Hear a Voice

    June 11, 2021
    Blue Flax

    Sometimes you hear a voice
    through the door calling you.
    as fish out of water
    hear the waves,
    or a hunting falcon
    hears the drums
    Come back. Come back.

    This turning toward
    what you deeply love saves you.
    Read the book of your life,
    which has been given you.
    A voice comes to your soul saying,
    Lift your foot. Cross over.

    Move into emptiness
    of question and answer and question.

    Rumi
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  • gratitude,  landscape,  Mary Oliver,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  poems,  sunrises,  writing/reading

    Invitation

    June 10, 2021

    Oh do you have time
    to linger
    for just a little while
    out of your busy

    and very important day
    for the goldfinches
    that have gathered
    in a field of thistles

    for a musical battle,
    to see who can sing
    the highest note,
    or the lowest,

    or the most expressive of mirth,
    or the most tender?
    Their strong, blunt beaks
    drink the air

    as they strive
    melodiously
    not for your sake
    and not for mine

    and not for the sake of winning
    but for sheer delight and gratitude –
    believe us, they say,
    it is a serious thing

    just to be alive
    on this fresh morning
    in the broken world.
    I beg of you,

    do not walk by
    without pausing
    to attend to this
    rather ridiculous performance.

    It could mean something.
    It could mean everything.
    It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote:
    You must change your life.

    Mary Oliver, “Invitation,”
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  • Avian,  quotes

    Beginning With Wonder

    June 7, 2021
    Storm clouds and rain

    Awareness of the Divine begins with wonder.

    Rabbi Heschel
    White-faced Ibis

    Unknown to me, White-faced Ibises wander through our area during the warmer months of breeding. I do not know that I’ve ever seen them before simply because I pay more attention to this book of nature now. In fact I enjoy reading it. I just sat and watched them with wonder. I found these birds along Weld County Road 13 in a marshy area with no name on any map I could find. Both images from Saturday afternoon.

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