• Avian,  quotes

    Some are heading south

    “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”

    Lao Tzu

    A flock of geese flew overhead a couple of days ago on my walk creating that lovely music of theirs. Not sure why it’s music to me when they are flying above and noise when they’re waddling everywhere turning my walks into a goose-poop-boogie dance floor. Some will head south and some will stay for the winter. I’ve come to accept these rituals and behaviors of my feathered friends over the years.

    A few years ago on Thanksgiving Day I was taking a walk through the neighborhood when thousands, maybe millions, of geese began flying overhead. There were so many and they were so loud people were coming out of their homes to stand in the street, on the sidewalks and porches looking skyward. I have never experienced anything like that since. Happy Thanksgiving!!

  • leaves,  Plants,  quotes,  shadows,  snow

    Creativity

    True creativity does not need an excuse. It is its own motivation. It is spontaneous. It need not win public recognition, and its aim is not success.

    Brother Paul Quenon

    Sorry for posting another leaf image and quote. 😂 It has been another beautiful day in Colorado. It was 52 degrees when I took my camera on a walk this afternoon. Nature knows how to be creative when we look and see.

  • coffee life,  coffee shops,  quotes

    Asking questions….

    Latte Art

    Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.

    Henry David Thoreau

    I read this past week that we are ‘God’s work of art.’ That is a wonderful concept and I believe there is a lot of truth in that statement. So, it brought up some questions for me to ponder and journal about. What if we are born as a blank canvas and our life’s task is to become a finished unique work of art? What if we are to express our uniqueness through how we live life, how we treat others and all of creation. What if we use our gifts and talents believing we can turn the world around? What if we need to be in union with the creator of life to become that work of art? What if everyone believed our life is a work of art and then lived it to the fullest? I’m asking questions…

    Sun has set and the cold moves in. Hope you had a great Monday!

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

    Wise Words

    Nature is the master artist.

    “This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body…”

    Walt Whitman
  • quotes,  shadows

    What I look for…

    “What we do see depends mainly on what we look for. … In the same field the farmer will notice the crop, the geologists the fossils, botanists the flowers, artists the colouring, sportmen the cover for the game. Though we may all look at the same things, it does not all follow that we should see them.”

    John Lubbock

    A few years ago I worked for a landscaper. One morning as we pulled up to this home we were going to work on, Ed was immediately able to point out to me where they were going to have drainage problems when it rained. Wow! We saw with such different eyes. As a photographer I’ve learned that when I move my tripod and camera 20 feet in any direction my photographer’s eye will see that scene differently.

    And, what I understand as reality is not as it appears to someone else. Probably my greatest growth has been to try and see as others do, accepting that they have a different reality and not try to change how they see. So maybe I need to be more open to what I look for. Maybe I’ll see a snow covered yellow fire hydrant. Hope you had a wonderful Saturday!

  • quotes,  snow,  winter scenes

    Ice Crystals

    A leaf found on campus this morning

    …the care of the earth is our most ancient and most worthy and, after all, our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it, and to foster its renewal, is our only legitimate hope.

    Wendell Berry

    We did not get much snow in Fort Collins but we definitely have the cold. It was 5 degrees when I left the condo to catch the bus. Sun came out of hiding around 9:00 so the ice crystals in the air were sparkling, glittering, and twinkling. Ice crystals form when it’s cold and the humidity is high (90% this morning). And, in case you don’t know what an ice crystal is, they are solid ice exhibiting atomic ordering on various length scales and include hexagonal columns, hexagonal plates, dendritic crystals, and diamond dust. Now, aren’t you glad you asked what an ice crystal was. I tried to capture a couple images of them in the sunlight as I left the coffee shop but not happy with them. Definitely need more practice. I saw where we reached 22 degrees but the high humidity makes it feel colder.

    I read about great hope this morning in my meditation time and then found this quote by Wendell Berry. Had to post it because I do have hope!

  • fall season,  leaves,  Plants,  quotes,  seasons

    Beautiful Nature

    Maple leaves from 2006

    “Nature is beautiful because it looks like Art; and Art can only be called beautiful if we are conscious of it as Art while yet it looks like Nature.”

    Immanuel Kant

    It was 23 degrees this morning at 7:02 am as I left the condo. Snow then began falling around 8:00 am. Intermittently big flakes then soft delicate snowflakes. I sat in my bedroom looking out the bay window as the artist created. It is lovely to my soul. It is also bringing much needed moisture to our thirsty soil. I checked the temperature about 2:16 pm and it said we’re still at 23 degrees but feels like 17 degrees. I’ll agree and it will only get colder! It’s expected to snow all night. I know the image does not depict the weather here but it is beautiful art made by nature. And, this is a second post about the beauty of nature.

    I finished a couple of blurb books that I’ve been working on for awhile. I ordered one each for a look-see copy today. Nothing fancy but small 7×7 size and on subjects I like, Twilight and Journaling. They are for me and will go on my bookshelf.

    I tested negative this morning for covid as I was exposed again this past Sunday. 👍