All holiness is about learning to hear the voice of your own soul.
John O’Donohue
What a beautiful Sunday morning. Orange glow on the eastern horizon. A cloudless sky. A silence coming from the Canada Geese still sleeping on the open water. There are no Magpies chattering. The only sound being my breaths. I wish, and you can even call it a prayer, that more people would seek out and cherish these predawn moments in nature to experience and hear the voice within our souls. Possibly find more peace in the world.
May you all have an Awesome Sunday! Yes, it’s a blue theme again. 😊
There are two hawks perched in the trees in the lower right corner of this image. I assume looking for breakfast or already done and letting it settle. I used come to this area in Weld County on a regular basis but now find it limiting for images due to all the housing going up in the area. I drove out this morning for something different and scouted around for other locations that may work for me.
Cold morning. Another one of those nights, awake at 3:00 am. It said 5 degrees at 5:30 am. Saw the moon and drove to Reservoir Ridge for some full moonset photos. I was given this image on the way home and liked it better. It gives you more of a feeling of what kind of morning it was. Someone has been energetic enough to clear the snow off the ice and created a nice skating rink in the foreground of this image. The Canada Geese were along the open water and in the water enjoying the weather. Not me. When I got back in the car the dashboard said it was 1 degree. I didn’t question it.
inhale deep breaths journal and pen in hand words rising within
ms
It was 17 degrees at 7:33 am when I took this image. I was bundled up while the geese, well, they seemed to be singing a song of joy while drifting in frigid water or sleeping on thin ice. Pure insanity to us humans! After taking this image, I headed to Pineridge Natural area to bask in the sun’s bright warmth and journal. Picked up a mocha on the way so it took me about 25 minutes to arrive at the natural area parking lot. It had already warmed up to 18 degrees. Not toasty yet but an increase nonetheless. Some will think I’m insane for starting my day this way but both the geese and I say to heck with them. I enjoy these gifts of silence, the clear blue skies and the warm sun shining on me. To make it complete, when I got home I enjoyed a rather dry day old donut. 😁Do I know how to live or what?
Smoky sunrise at Pineridge Reservoir Natural Area this morning
Smoke sits over the city, a haze that settles on everything. Not sure I will ever get used to the smell or the feel it leaves in my throat. A jogger this morning mentioned it was hard on their throat to run in this smoke. I read this mornings fire report and they do not expect to have containment of the Cameron Peak fire until October 31st. That’s a long time for us to deal with the smoke. I must admit the smoke has presented some nicely colored sunrises and sunsets. However, we are done with it already. I think the squawking magpies are done with it, also.
Seeing a lot of fire trucks from out of town as there are over 800 firefighters battling the fire. This past week I saw a school bus full of tired firefighters taking them to a hotel for a refreshing shower and comfortable bed before heading back to the front lines. Most of their tactics are to create barriers to limit the expansion of the fire and working to protect any structures. Sadly, part of the burn area has been a great location for aspen fall colors for many years.
A magpie letting me know they were tired of the smoke also
Almost no wind this morning so the water on Dixon Reservoir was glassy smooth. The sun was bright orange through the smoky haze. Very quiet and still when I first arrived. After about 20 minutes a gentle breeze began to sway tree branches, leaves began to rustle while the grasses and sagebrush begin to dance along. The day begins to awaken. It’s going to be 90 degrees today and for the next two days then drop 65 degrees by Tuesday and possibly give us our first snowfall of this season, for sure our first frost. That will help with the fire. Hope you have a great weekend!
Here’s a little bit about the trip to Seattle. First off, the weather was wonderful, highs reached about 70 degrees and lows at night down to 55 degrees. No rain the whole time we were there. I ate too much.
When we are alone on a starlit night; when by chance we see the migrating birds in autumn descending on a grove of junipers to rest and eat; when we see children in a moment when they are really children; when we know love in our hearts; or when, like the Japanese poet Bashõ we hear an old frog land in a quiet pond with a solitary splash – at such times the awakening, the turning inside out of all values, the “newness,” the emptiness and the purity of vision that make themselves evident, provide a glimpse of cosmic dance.
