My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and the mystery of it all.
I have favorite places I enjoy returning to for the quiet I experience and the photo opportunities they offer. This is one such place. For this image I pulled into the gate to a farmers field and shot from the bar-ditch. A meadowlark greeted me with their morning song as they also watched the predawn colors.
“It’s not possible to save the world by trying to save it. You need to find what is genuinely yours to offer the world before you can make it a better place. Discovering your unique gift to bring to your community is your greatest opportunity and challenge. The offering of that gift — your true self — is the most you can do to love and serve the world. And it is all the world needs.”
Thomas Berry
there’s a calm over the meadow
ms
feeling the warm rays of golden light
illuminating the mountain brome
nature creating abundant beauty
and with gratitude rising within me
start this new day on the bright side
A late arrival to Pineridge Natural Area but just in time to catch the sun cresting the horizon. Followed quickly by a warm golden glow illuminating everything. I sat on the bench to journal but when nature provided this glow on the mountain brome, I had to pull out my camera. Have a great day!
Everything is a gift. The degree to which we are awake to this truth is a measure of our gratefulness, and gratefulness is a measure of our aliveness.
Brother David Steindl-Rast
This blog allows me to express my thoughts, feelings, experiences, and what I see through my words and photographs. I enjoy sharing them. I also enjoy those who visit and leave comments. Those comments are important for me as they let me know you stopped by, what you think, and your experiences. So, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment, or not.
“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.”
Winnie-the-Pooh
We all have certain subjects we gravitate towards. I find my archives to have primarily images of wide open horizons with clouds, trees, fields of grass, open meadows, sunshine and the shadows it spreads around. This was taken last week on an afternoon drive outside the city. This morning I sit on my porch typing this post. Clear skies, sunshine and around 50 degrees. The birds are singing their songs of joy. Almost perfect.
Or maybe they are singing because it’s Ruth’s birthday. Happy Birthday Ruth!
The most beautiful things in life are not things.
Unknown
They’re people and places and memories and pictures.
They’re feelings and moments and smiles and laughter.
I read yesterday something that resonated with me, “… nature heals. big time.” I know I go to nature for healing of many things. There is a solitude and silence there not found in the city. But the quote also caused me to reflect on things I do to help me move through any troubling state I can find myself in. When I feel anxious it’s time to walk or hike. When I’m angry or resentful I can let go of those thoughts by “taking a photograph.” When I get caught up in mental chatter I find relief through “meditation and quiet.” When confusion and the need for discernment ties me in knots then I can untangle myself through “journaling.” All of these simple things I can do at any place but nature is such a pull for me. Loved the gold and pink I found last night in these two images.
I don’t believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive.
Joseph Campbell
I probably drive 4 miles 4-5 mornings a week to be closer to nature, or at least distant from the noise of the city, and greet the morning sun. I usually take some photo as part of this morning routine. But one morning this past week I didn’t. However, when I got back to my condo I saw the sun peaking through the branches of this maple tree. I shot 5 images of the sun coming through the branches and 6 of the group of leaves that have already fallen. Interesting that the images as part of my morning routine were within 50 feet of my front door. Go figure.
sitting on a bench at the natural area
ms
I look out across the open meadow
a light wind blows from the south
softly whispering through golden grass
taking simple breaths I remain present
far from those places thoughts beckon
a blue jay chatters from a pine branch
joined by a chorus of barking prairie dogs
I’m listening…
but all goes silent with my unexpected sneeze
an engulfing quiet settles upon the meadow
silence is broken with a chickadees two-note song
inviting the prairie dogs and blue jays back
a squawking magpie joins in and so the
concert continues much to my pleasure
within this simple experience I am
offered one of the many gifts of nature
I’m listening…
Keep your face always toward the sunshine – and shadows will fall behind you.
Walt Whitman
Took this image at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area yesterday just as the sun was setting. It was the most enjoyable thing I did all day and I had a good day. The day started out cloudy, overcast and cold. By noon the clouds cleared up and we were blessed with blue skies the rest of the day. Have a wonderful October!