My online journal sharing interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, spirituality and asking deep questions.
“We are moving into a period of bewilderment, a curious moment in which people find light in the midst of despair, and vertigo at the summit of their hopes. It is a religious moment also, and here is the danger. People will want to obey the voice of Authority, and many strange constructs of just what Authority is will arise in every mind… The public yearning for Order will invite many stubborn uncompromising persons to impose it. The sadness of the zoo will fall upon society.”
Leonard Cohen
“Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
For three days now we have had unusual colors in the sky because the smoke and ash from forest fires in Wyoming and Montana are drifting our way. The colors are eerie. I got up early this morning and headed to Pineridge Natural Area. I was hoping that after the sun had risen I could expect some reflection of the sun in Dixon Reservoir. Geese and ducks fed along the waters edges. In between the cross talking magpies, I could hear the robins and meadowlarks singing. And, I was not the only one out with their cameras for this colorful display by nature. The tables outside the coffee shop had a light dusting of ash on them. Air quality warnings are out for today. And, I pray for world peace!
… the dawn is by its very nature, a peaceful, mysterious and contemplative time of day – a time when one naturally pauses and looks with awe at the eastern sky. It is a time of new life, new beginning, and therefore important to the spiritual life: for the spiritual life is nothing else but a perpetual interior renewal.
Thomas Merton, The Inner Experience
The range of the human mind, the scale and depth of the metaphors the mind is capable of manufacturing as it grapples with the universe, stand in stunning contrast to the belief that there is only one reality, which is man’s, or worse, that only one culture among the many on earth possesses the truth. To allow mystery, which is to say to yourself, “There could be more, there could be things we don’t understand,” is not to damn knowledge. It is to take a wider view. It is to permit yourself an extraordinary freedom: someone else does not have to be wrong in order that you may be right.
Barry Lopez
I’m about to push publish as I sit on my porch watching flashes of lightning and listening to thunder. We are receiving the gift of a refreshing and much needed rain. I watch and listen with a feeling of gratitude as it’s been hot and dry here. Hope you are enjoying your Friday! I started my day with the above Americano. And, Mr Barry López is spot on!
“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are. The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty ‘yes’ to your adventure.”
Joseph Campbell
I like his suggestion that “being who you are” is a privilege. Because for me, I was never truly happy with my life when trying to be who or what society suggested I be. Life is becoming more of an adventure each day, even at this age, as I say “yes” in becoming me. It is a privilege! Hope everyone stays cool and safe today.
The way to think about photography is that the next frame you shoot will be the definitive one. Everybody takes one picture and says, ‘Well, I’ve got it.’ Take another one, and always believe that the one you haven’t taken will be even better.
John Shaw
We are all broken. That’s how the light gets in.
Ernest Hemingway