• landscape,  natural areas,  Reservoir Ridge Natural Area,  seasons,  snow

    Springtime in Colorado

    May 20, 2022

    Springtime in Colorado includes snow in May in case you didn’t know that. This was taken at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area about an hour ago. Rain began about midnight and is slowly turning to snow. Snow is already on the foothills at probably 6500 feet and the higher elevations are shrouded in clouds and snow. Forecast this morning says 4-12 inches of snow will accumulate throughout the day and end tomorrow by noon. My weather app says it’s 37 degrees. The meadowlarks were singing as I took this image. Seems each day is a day to be grateful to them. We can learn from them. I’m now having a bowl of hot Irish Oats with blueberries. Seemed appropriate. Turned the furnace on, too. Meanwhile Phoenix and Charlotte will be in the 90’s.

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  • Black and White,  Mary Oliver,  poems,  poetry,  Self-portraits

    Temple of Thought

    May 19, 2022

    Not quite four a.m., when the rapture of being alive
    strikes me from sleep, and I rise
    from the comfortable bed and go
    to another room, where my books are lined up
    in their neat and colorful rows. How 

    magical they are! I choose one
    and open it. Soon
    I have wandered in over the waves of the words
    to the temple of thought.

                      And then I hear
    outside, over the actual waves, the small,
    perfect voice of the loon. He is also awake,
    and with his heavy head uplifted he calls out
    to the fading moon, to the pink flush
    swelling in the east that, soon,
    will become the long, reasonable day. 

                           Inside the house
    it is still dark, except for the pool of lamplight
    in which I am sitting.
                      I do not close the book. 
    Neither, for a long while, do I read on.

    Mary Oliver, her poem The Loon from What Do I know?
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  • animals,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes

    They Teach Us

    May 17, 2022

    In the Western tradition there is a recognized hierarchy of beings, with, of course, the human being on top—the pinnacle of evolution, the darling of Creation—and the plants at the bottom. But in Native ways of knowing, human people are often referred to as “the younger brothers of Creation.” We say that humans have the least experience with how to live and thus the most to learn—we must look to our teachers among the other species for guidance. Their wisdom is apparent in the way that they live. They teach us by example. They’ve been on the earth far longer than we have been, and have had time to figure things out.

    Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass

    What a beautiful morning we have here in Colorado. Blue skies and sunshine. I have not read her book but think it’s one I do want to absorb some of her words and spirit. I also noticed Krista Tippett has a podcast with her that I want to listen to. Hope everyone has a wonderful day, enjoy it!

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  • landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes,  silence,  sunrises

    Stillness of Morning Light

    May 16, 2022
    Sunrise at Pineridge Natural Area with a dirty lens

    Communing with God is communing with our own hearts, our own best selves, not with something foreign and accidental. Saints and devotees have gone into the wilderness to find God; of course they took God with them, and the silence and detachment enabled them to hear the still, small voice of their own souls, as one hears the ticking of his own watch in the stillness of the night. 

    John Burroughs
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  • Avian,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  sunrises

    Happy Sunday Morning

    May 15, 2022

    Good morning from Pineridge Natural Area. Clear skies and sunshine to start the day. Meadowlarks were sharing songs of joy with all the world. In fact birds were singing all around me. Over time I will come know them but for now I’ll just enjoy their music. This image shows how the rains from last week sure gave the meadow a touch of green.

    When I leave the natural area I need to turn north on Overland trail and drive by an open field that is a Frisbee golf course. About a half mile after I’d turned I noticed this eagle sitting in the open field. I stopped and watched for several minutes with binoculars. The bird seemed rather nervous so I kept my distance. I finally decided to see if it would stay long enough for me to get my camera out and put on the longer zoom lens. I was able to take about 20 images then put my camera gear away because I did not want to disturb the bird anymore than I already had. I then watched them for another couple minutes with binoculars before it lifted off. I was shocked to see in its talons a large fish. Now, that would have been the shot but alas… This is about a 100% crop so it’s not all that sharp.

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  • Avian,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes

    One with all being

    May 15, 2022

    We must become so alone, so utterly alone, that we withdraw into our innermost self. It is a way of bitter suffering. But then our solitude is overcome, we are no longer alone, for we find that our innermost self is the spirit, that it is God, the indivisible. And suddenly we find ourselves in the midst of the world, yet undisturbed by its multiplicity, for our innermost soul we know ourselves to be one with all being.

    Hermann Hesse
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  • coffee life,  coffee shops,  fountain pens,  journal,  lifestyles,  musings,  poetry,  still life,  writing/reading

    … with you

    May 13, 2022

    It was an overcast morning and cool. There was no need for a coat, my fleece would do fine. I slept well and felt refreshed. On most mornings I usually start my day by asking and relying on my intuition. Do I want to head to a natural area and all that it has to offer or do I head to a coffee shop and all it has to offer. This is a gift of retirement. After quiet time my intuition lead me to a local coffee shop. I was not disappointed as my barista, Devan, brightened my day with her latte art. Of course a photo needed to be taken followed by my feeble attempts to write about it.

    crafted with frothed milk
    a work of art now created
    no longer just a latte

    the sense of taste awakens
    as the visual sense is transformed
    when lips touch the cups rim

    now sharing this experience
    as a written memory in the journal
    … and with you

    ms

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  • Avian,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area

    American White Pelican

    May 12, 2022

    I mentioned pelicans in a post a week ago and one commenter was surprised to know we have them out here. When people who live along the coast talk pelican they are referring to the Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis). What we have out here is the American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos). American White Pelicans are one of the largest North American birds. Watching them fly is amazing. They soar with incredible steadiness on broad, white-and-black wings. On the water they dip their pouched bills to scoop up fish, or tip-up like an oversized dabbling duck. This is a group of them on Dixon Reservoir working together to herd fish into the shallows for easy feeding. We find them in this area during spring while they feed and nest. If you’re interested here is a good read on them.

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  • Avian,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area

    … all the above

    May 11, 2022

    I have seen several Bullock’s Orioles around Dixon Reservoir at Pineridge Natural Area over the past week. This morning I walked on the west side of the reservoir along the water’s edge. I gratefully accepted this lovely image and the song that accompanied it. The males are a bright orange and easily seen by this new bird watcher. When I got home and saw this image I began to wonder if they sing their morning song of joy because they like the color they have be given, or they like to sing, or they’re happy or all the above?

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