My online journal sharing interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, spirituality and asking deep questions.
You are the only you that has ever lived; your idiom is the only idiom of its kind in all the existences and if you cannot hear the sound of the genuine in you, you will all of your life, spend your days on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls….
Howard Thurman
I took my camera for a short walk at Riverbend Ponds early yesterday evening. The clouds were amazing and I knew it could be a good place to watch the sunset. I hope you have a wonderful day!
“When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.”
Stephen Batchelor
I took care of my soul this morning with solitude and silence at Pineridge Natural Area. Afterwards I made my way to Mugs for coffee where there was a lot less solitude and silence since classes at CSU started today. It was a surprising 68 degrees this morning when I left the condo. The moon was just dropping behind the mountains when I arrived. Bats silently circled above me. Grateful for these moments. This is an HDR image of two images at +/- 1 stop. I like how it turned out.
I’m roasting up a pan of vegetables with andouille sausage this morning. I’ll let you know how that turns out. While having my mocha, I wrote in my journal that I felt like crying and wasn’t exactly sure why. But as I began to write this post at home I realized my mom died 3 years ago today. Makes me believe the soul knows. Hope you have a wonderful Monday and week!!
“It is a commonplace of all religious thought, even the most primitive, that the man seeking visions and insight must go apart from his fellows and love for a time in the wilderness.”
Loren Eiseley
Fort Collins is a Platinum-rated Bicycle Friendly Community and maintains more than 200 miles of dedicated bike lanes and 50 miles of marked or signed bike routes. I have been riding them the last week or so and finding gems everywhere. You may be seeing more images taken along these trails and blog posts about them. I can be on the Spring Creek Trail after a short 2 block ride from my condo. Yesterday evening I headed east on the Spring Creek trail then connected to the Poudre Trail. I had the pleasure of having a white tail doe and her two fawns pass in front of me, and squirrels and rabbits darting in front of me. The fawns were still in their spots. It will be interesting to ride these trails in the different seasons and watch how things in nature change. I am realizing how easy it is to be close to nature within this city when on these trails. Enjoy your Sunday!!
No doubt about it, silence is the beginning of wisdom as it sorts and casts out, rethinks and reclaims, plans and proceeds so that you can become your true self. As someone once wrote, “A meaningful silence is always better than meaningless words.”
Joan Chittister
I met my friend Eric for coffee this morning at a favorite place in Windsor. The coffee shop is a busy one and also loud. I would suspect some of it being meaningless words. The ambiance is not all that conducive to journaling or reading but I enjoy the conversation and time with Eric. I’m usually relieved to walk out the door to silence. On the way home I had a chance to stop and take in this view of the Rocky Mountains, a beautiful blue sky filled with wispy clouds, while enjoying the meaningful silence. I hope you are enjoying your weekend!
Listen to silence, it has much to say.
Rumi
Good morning from Colorado! I woke up early and got out of bed about 4:00 am. I had a nice, quiet meditation then enjoyed more quiet and prayer, waiting for the sunrise at Pineridge Natural Area. A cool breeze began to stir among the brush and grasses. There was an orange glow among the few clouds in the eastern sky. I listened to the silence! May you listen to the silence!.
Spiritually ecology is a recognition that at the root of our present ecological crisis is a spiritual crisis, and that the essence of the spiritual crisis is a forgetfulness of the sacred nature of creation.
Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Seasons of the Sacred
I am enjoying a nice cool morning here in Colorado. I’m leaving in a short while to meet my classmates for our monthly luncheon picnic. I took this photo last month on my way back from Red Feather Lakes area. I loved how the pre-sunset light presented parallel lines across the landscape. It was another one of those spiritual moments to enjoy.
Learning to pray is learning to listen. Within the heart we learn to wait with patience for God’s words, which may come even when we have not asked. Listening itself is a form of prayer, in which our whole being is receptive.
Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
I always thought that it would nice to live near a river and fall asleep each night listening to the song of the river. But that’s not the reality in my life. However, when given the opportunity I am learning to listen to the rivers and streams. If that’s prayer then so be it. This is an image of the Big Thompson River in Moraine Park in Rocky Mountain National Park taken back in May. Happy Monday!!