• Art,  Documentary/Street,  Food

    Malasadas

    There is a small alleyway in the town of Windsor that is used as a gathering area. They have pavers laid down with tables and chairs for people to eat at and converse. I discovered this one Saturday morning while waiting to meet with my friend Eric. A sign caught my eye that said Ollie’s Malasadas. I watched a couple enter the door so I needed to find out what a malasada was. Turns out they are a Portuguese-style doughnut, known for their rich, fried dough and sweet, sugary coating. Now we’re in trouble! Actually, I haven’t tried one, yet. But, I did get a photo of the mural on the building’s wall. We are expecting severe storms beginning around noon. I hear there were heavy storms last night just east of here, Milliken, with large sized hail. Hoping we don’t get any of that.

  • natural areas,  Plants,  quotes

    Words

    Age is opportunity no less than youth itself.

    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

    Words. They are an important part of my life. I journal daily and read daily. I venture into my coffee life for those enriching conversations where words are shared with another. I’m learning to listen and allow words to soak in. I’m learning to think through before speaking words because words can cause harm. Whether reading or in conversation I search for them as seeds to transform me in some way. I’ve heard it suggested that we not read for information but or transformation. It is an opportunity I embrace as I age.

  • flowers,  Plants,  quotes

    A Discovered Life

    When we make a place for silence, we make room for ourselves. By making room for silence, we resist the forces of the world which tell us to live an advertised life of surface appearances, instead of a discovered life — a life lived in contact with our senses, our feelings, our deepest thoughts and values.

    Gunilla Norris
  • landscape,  natural areas,  storm clouds

    After the Rain

    Double rainbow over Dixon Reservoir

    I spent some time late this afternoon at the natural area. Meadowlarks were singing their song of happiness, while a couple of robins chimed in. Add to their song the sound of falling rain and the rumble of thunder and I’m a happy camper. It was a light rain shower that moved through and as it moved out east it left this double rainbow for us to enjoy. I hope you had a wonderful Friday the 13th!

  • landscape,  natural areas,  storm clouds

    Deep Sustained Silences

    Storm clouds this afternoon on the eastern plains

    Everything here feels compromised—too many planes—too many cars—too many concessions where commerce is favored over contemplation. What if it is only through the deep sustained silences that precede and follow love that life can be brought forth in all its fullness?

    Terry Tempest Williams
  • clouds,  landscape,  quotes,  reflections

    Reflection…

    Snake River at Oxbow Bend from October of 2003

    Love is the movement within life that carries us, that enables us, that causes us to break out of what Alan Watts calls the “skin-encapsulated ego.” Without love, we are self-centered, but love enables us to move the center of our lives outside our ego. Therefore it expands our lives and, needless to say, enriches it. Any human being would give anything to love or be loved. When it really happens, it is like heaven on earth.

    Huston Smith

    There are those moments when I am touched at some deep level when taking images such as this and, more importantly, the opportunity to witness scenes like this. Photography has allowed me to slow down and experience those sacred moments. Our friend Earl is spot on when he says these moments are transforming and revitalizing. At this stage in my life I ask myself the question, “How much love is actually being shared between me and Nature herself?” Just asking that question now is transformative and revitalizing. I agree when Earl mentions in his post about this chaotic world. Seems to me it is in need of a touch of heaven.

  • Avian,  nature,  quotes

    …calling me by my name

    In indigenous ways of knowing, all beings are recognized as non-human persons, and all have their own names. It is a sign of respect to call a being by its name, and a sign of disrespect to ignore it. Words and names are the ways we humans build relationship, not only with each other, but also with plants.

    Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss

    If words and names are the ways we humans build relationships then calling one another derogatory names on social media, or the playground, does not build relationships. If anything it builds more walls. I will go as far as saying it’s immature, even frustrating. When I listen to a meadowlark sing from its heart my spirit hears it as an invitation. And just maybe it’s calling me by my name. No walls there!

  • clouds,  landscape,  quotes

    Clicked the Shutter

    Storm clouds from this afternoon

    Sometimes I arrive just when God’s ready to have someone click the shutter.

    Ansel Adams

    I clicked the shutter on this image this afternoon after the rain storms had moved on. It looks like sunshine the next four days then more rain. The rain we have had over the past 4 days has sure made things green and after today, my car is a muddy mess. And, I just love this quote! Hope you had a good Friday!

  • Plants,  quotes

    God’s sense of beauty…

    Nature is the direct expression of the divine imagination.
    It is the most intimate reflection of God’s sense of beauty.

    John O’Donohue

    I’m outside on my porch in my blue Adirondack chair typing this post while sipping on a spicy chai latte. It’s about 10:19 am. The constantly changing canvas above me is an overcast sky with patches of azure blue. Trees are motionless and allows other sounds to dominate. So, I enjoy hearing a robin sing it’s heart out. A couple of flickers chat back in forth. I watch the three baby squirrels romp around the elm tree in a game of tag. A cottontail dashes past me to hide in the juniper bush. A group of Canada Geese lay around the edge of the pond, necks bent over their back, sleeping with one eye open. It is peaceful and serene! My weather app says we could see more rain this afternoon around three o’clock. In the meantime I partake of God’s sense of beauty and imagination that I am a part of. And now it’s time to push the publish button. I hope you have a wonderful day!

  • clouds,  landscape,  quotes

    Nature’s Wildness

    All Nature’s wildness tells the same story. Storms of every sort, torrents, earthquakes, cataclysms, ‘convulsions of nature,’ etc., however mysterious and lawless at first sight they may seem, are only harmonious notes in the song of creation, varied expressions of God’s love.

    John Muir