• bicycling,  coffee life,  landscape,  sunrises

    Damn, it was good!

    November 13, 2024
    Sunrise at the CSU Oval with a dirty lens

    I received an interesting email this past week from attorneys in California “demanding” me to remove images from my website because I was infringing on copyrighted images belonging to their company. They had a link to a file listing the images but the link was incomplete. I did some research on the attorneys and discovered they deal with estate and trust litigation. I was sure it was a scam of some sort because as far as I know I have no images on this blog that are not mine. I was concerned that I may have posted a quote or poem that someone was wanting me to take down, which I would do, so I called them. I found out they were aware someone was using their company name and that I could ignore the email. So confusing that people can think of doing something like that, then acting on it and never see the results. Anyway…

    The other morning at Mugs I discovered one chocolate eclair sitting in their pastry case. I was flabbergasted because they normally do carry them except in the downtown store. I knew immediately some poor unsuspecting customer, maybe even a friend, was going to see that eclair and be tempted buy it. So, I quickly made the sacrifice and bought it, thinking only of them of course. Damn, it was good!

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  • Art,  quotes,  street photography

    The Meaning of Life

    November 12, 2024
    BirdsEye mural by Ren Burke

    I think “the meaning of life” is something we have to formulate for ourselves, we have to determine what has meaning for us… It clearly has to do with love — what and whom and how one can love.

    Oliver Sacks

    We had another beautiful day yesterday, beginning with an orange sunrise then blue skies and sunshine. In the afternoon I headed to Old Town to walk the streets with my camera. I found a few images then did some journaling at Starry Night, enjoying an Earl Grey Tea. I believe so deeply in what Oliver Sacks suggests that the meaning of life is about love. So today I ask myself what and whom and how I can love.

    In 2004 as a collaboration between the City of Fort Collins Art in Public Places Program and Utilities Light and Power created The Transformer Cabinet Mural Project. Serving as a graffiti abatement program, the murals help lower maintenance costs while adding bright colorful art in unexpected places. The program also helps keep the investment local by utilizing local artists and non-profit groups to paint the cabinets. Since the start of the program, 20 years now, over 400 transformer cabinets have been transformed into works of art.

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  • fall season,  leaves,  quotes

    Tell the Tale

    November 11, 2024

    It feels like we are living in a time of apocalypse,
    an age when everything we take for granted is starting to collapse around us.
    It feels like the end of the world.…
    This situation is nothing new for me as a Native American.
    My ancestors already lived through an apocalypse.…
    Native American culture in North America has been through the collapse of civilization
    and lived to tell the tale.

    Steven Charleston, We Survived the End of the World: Lessons from Native America on Apocalypse and Hope
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  • landscape,  natural areas,  poems,  snow

    Miracles Everywhere

    November 9, 2024
    Snow covered foothills at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area

    I was sad
    Mad
    Big things going wrong
    Big
    Asked for a miracle
    Nope
    Screamed for it
    Nope
    Then looked around
    Miracles everywhere
    Just not the one I so badly wanted

    Joyce Wilson-Sanford, I Pray Anyway

    It has been overcast and cold all day. The snow stopped around mid-morning. I made a drive to Reservoir Ridge Natural Area this morning knowing it was closed due to wet conditions but hoping to get a photo of the snow sitting atop the foothills from the gate. What a miracle it is to be alive and live in this beautiful world. In my quiet this morning I took a book down from my shelf called I Pray Anyway and thumbed through a few of her poems until I came across this one. Sometimes a poet will just say what I need to read. Her poem speaks to me because so many miracles that didn’t/don’t/won’t happen the way I want them to. She reminds me to look around at all the other miracles in my life and let go of what I think outcomes need to be. And then I can make a gratitude list of miracles everywhere in my life!!

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  • coffee life,  coffee shops,  quotes

    Presence is wisdom!

    November 8, 2024
    Journaling with a chai latte, while watching it snow outside

    Wisdom is precisely a different way of seeing and knowing the ten thousand things in a new way. I suggest that wisdom is precisely the freedom to be truly present to what is right in front of you. Presence is wisdom! Those who can be present will know what they need to know, and in a wisdom way.

    Richard Rohr

    It began snowing in earnest about 9:30 am, offering us big, beautiful moisture filled snowflakes. I met Jeff earlier for tea and conversation, then stopped by the Arboretum Coffee shop to journal for a while. The small chai latte was a perfect pairing with my journaling. This coffee shop is a nonprofit that is striving to “create a community where refugees and immigrants can rebuild their lives with dignity, gain essential skills, and form meaningful connections.” I come here because I want to support that ideal. So far my interaction with all these baristas has not given me a feeling of working with a criminal, the drug cartel or that I’m  in any danger. The only problem I’ve had is our language differences but that is improving! What’s cool about that is we don’t throw up our hands but keep at it until I get skim milk rather than whole. I’m finding my name is strange to them and love how they sometimes say it. If I remain open and willing to encounter wisdom, then these baristas have much to teach me, to enhance my life, and a chance to be present to each other. Seems there is more danger around the white privileged who think they think they know. I much prefer Rohr’s notion that wisdom is precisely a different way of seeing and knowing the ten thousand things in a new way. I want to be a seeker of wisdom.

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  • fall season,  leaves,  quotes

    Letting Go…

    November 7, 2024
    A small flurry of falling leaves.

    Where selfishness excludes, love makes room and includes.
    Where selfishness puts down, love lifts up.
    Where selfishness hurts and harms, love helps and heals.
    Where selfishness enslaves, love sets free and liberates.

    Michael Curry

    While walking home from the coffee shop this morning I was caught in a flurry of leaves on campus. Each leaf letting go and entering their freefall into an unknown phase of their journey. I was walking in a green, yellow, gold, and red snowstorm. I loved it. I also saw it as a subtle message for me to let go of my fears, worries, wild imagination, awfulizing (which is just one type of irrational thinking), and my desire to have some control. All of these point to my selfishness. Makes me wonder if our nation of entitlement and privilege is a mask of its deep selfishness. We as a nation are moving into an unknown phase of a new journey, a freefall like the leaves of fall. No matter what the future will look like, may I let go of selfishness and remember that disorder always precedes reorder. Thanks for listening! And, it’s been a cold blustery day here. Stay warm!!

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  • horizons,  landscape,  mountains,  quotes,  storm clouds,  sunsets

    Storm Clouds

    November 6, 2024
    Setting sun and storm clouds over the Colorado Front Range – June 2012

    There is nothing more beautiful than living a simple life in this complex universe!

    Mehmet Murat ildan

    I awoke to a dusting of snow and cold this morning. After my quiet time I checked the election results. I am unable to express the feelings I experienced at such a deep level within me. So, my task today, and maybe for some time, has been to journal in hopes of uncovering my feelings, thoughts, and the words to express them. At this moment I find it amazing to accept that in this divided nation I find myself a minority in my beliefs and values. I will do my best to continue to live a simple life, yet also be true to myself, my beliefs and my values. May all who can allow the love and light within them shine in our world, no matter the storm clouds on the horizon. And, may we all find inner peace.

    And, outside my window a cold wind blows indicative of our nations emotions.

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  • Avian,  quotes,  reflections

    Love One Another

    November 4, 2024
    Male mallard at the ponds

    “Love one another.” If we took those simple words to heart, we’d already be the Buddhas Jesus wanted us to be.

    Kathleen Dowling Singh

    Even though the world is in much chaos, love is still a powerful force in life. Love seems to be a constant in my readings and conversations. It may be that I’m more attune to love at this stage of my life. It may be because I spend more time in nature at this stage of my life. It may be that I am reading more poetry at this stage of my life. Maybe it’s because I’m coming to understand what love truly is. Maybe I’m really experiencing what it means to love one another, taking these words to heart, and all of creation. Oh, that more of us would embrace the power of love!

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  • bicycling,  fall season,  leaves

    Sunday Turkey Trot

    November 3, 2024
    Fallen leaves at the CSU Oval
    Mallards on Spring Creek
    Sunday Turkey Trot

    My ride to coffee this morning was an enjoyable 10.1 mile round trip. It was 38 degrees by the time I headed out the door, at 6:40 am. I’m enjoying riding enough that the cold has not deterred me from getting out there. Bundling up along with the exercise are a couple of good things for my health. Colors are still vivid in many places which brings on a smile. As leaves were falling like gold and yellow snowflakes it reminded me that it won’t be long and white snowflakes will replace them.

    I stopped to spend some time at the small concrete dam and gate area along Spring Creek. The water was smooth, blues skies reflected in the water and I had the time to stop. Three mallards felt the need to get in the image so I let them.

    Most Sunday mornings I will encounter walkers, their dogs and bicyclists, all using these wonderful hard surface trails. This morning I needed to stop because a bunch of turkeys were taking their time as they trotted cross the bike trail. They seemed to think it was all theirs. So I let all 13 in the group have the right of way. About 1:00 pm they wandered across my front yard, which is about 2 miles from where I took this image. I’ve never seen them this far in town. Do you suppose they are looking for a place to hide? Hope you had a good Sunday!

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  • natural areas,  Plants,  poems,  poetry

    Discovering Life

    November 2, 2024
    The seasons finale and still a work of art

    Sometimes on the spiritual path
    It is more fun to walk beside a seeker than a true believer.

    I have no quarrel with those who are certain they know
    Exactly where they are going on the path of faith
    But often their questions are few and their stories familiar.

    It is when you listen to the seeker’s vision
    That things can come alive.
    Questions and doubts, longings and hopes
    Experiences both difficult and transcendent:
    It sounds very honest to me.
    And very human.

    If you are a seeker, I will be proud to walk beside you
    Discovering life as we go.

    Steven Charleston, Spirit Wheel

    It was such a beautiful day yesterday that I made a trip to Pineridge Natural Area for a bit of quiet and to soak up the sun. I wanted and needed both. This morning is just as lovely with blue skies and sunshine. The Canada Geese are filling the airwaves as they migrate to their winter spots. After my quiet time and a bowl of Irish Oats with blueberries and pecans, I met Eric for coffee and conversation. I saw one eagle and half a dozen hawks on my drive over there and back. Undoubtedly they were seeking a meal. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

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