• clouds,  landscape,  musings,  sunrises

    Just a touch of pink…

    October 9, 2024

    I enjoyed my ride this morning to the coffee shop. It was cool and crisp at about 47 degrees but not cold. I find these rides to be invigorating, actually beginning to look forward to them. No traffic to deal with and parking is a breeze. I enjoyed my coffee conversations this morning with Jeff, Curtis, Shawn, Terry and Adrianna, which always seems to make the coffee taste better.

    A touch of pink over CSU campus this morning

    I journaled this morning about how short life is, aware mine gets shorter each day, each breath. I do not know when my heart will beat its last beat, but I am at a place of acceptance when that moment comes. And that acceptance includes finding myself waking each morning with gratitude, looking forward to the possibilities of the day. What photo will be given? Who will I share a conversation with? What lesson(s) can I learn today? What words will I find on the pages of my journal? Will I be present to experience feelings of gratitude, love, fear, serenity, anger, sadness, and other emotions that make me human? These remind me of Mary Oliver’s question asking us how we will live this one wild and precious life given to us? I will not have an answer until I reflect back on my day when I lay my head on my pillow tonight. But, I must say my day has been rich and fulfilling already and it’s not finished.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  quotes

    We need mystery…

    September 17, 2024

    “We need mystery. Creator in her wisdom knew this. Mystery fills us with awe and wonder. They are the foundations of humility, and humility is the foundation of all learning. So we do not seek to unravel this. We honour it by letting it be that way forever.” (The quote of a grandmother explaining The Great Mystery of the universe to her grandson.)

    Richard Wagamese, Indian Horse
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  • clouds,  landscape,  poems

    One story at a time…

    September 15, 2024

    All that we are is story. From the moment we are born to the time we continue on our spirit journey, we are involved in the creation of the story of our time here. It is what we arrive with. It is all we leave behind. We are not the things we accumulate. We are not the things we deem important. We are story. All of us. What comes to matter then is the creation of the best possible story we can while we’re here; you, me, us, together. When we can do that and we take the time to share those stories with each other, we get bigger inside, we see each other, we recognize our kinship – we change the world, one story at a time…

    Richard Wagamese
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  • clouds,  horizons,  landscape,  poems

    Touch My Soul

    September 12, 2024

    Let love lead your soul
    make it a place to retire to,
    a kind of cave, a retreat
    for the deep core of being.

    Rumi

    The leaves have been changing colors the past couple weeks around my condo. One tree has dropped most of its leaves. However, the greens are vibrant at Spring Creek Park with lush foliage in the trees and a well manicured lawn. I plopped myself on one of the park benches and watched the clouds continuously reshape themselves. Even though these clouds provided rain in the mountains, we did not get any. But, even without the rain, one of their tasks was to touch my soul.

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  • bicycle rides,  clouds,  Pedaling on,  quotes,  sunrises

    Moments like this

    September 11, 2024
    Sunrise over CSU campus this morning

    We can express them (beauty and love) with words but cannot define them — we can only say that this and this are included but that is not, and wordlessly we all recognise the truth of it. Speech is limited, no matter what the language…. For in our hearts we understand more than we can possibly talk about.

    N.J. Berrill

    I stopped for this image on my ride to the coffee shop this morning. Makes me wonder if my coffee life is enriched because of moments of beauty like this. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

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  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  quotes,  reflections

    The Beauty of This World

    September 6, 2024
    Calm waters at Arapahoe Bend – December of 2023

    A lifetime isn’t long enough for the beauty of this world
    and the responsibilities of your life.

    Scatter your flowers over the graves, and walk away.
    Be good-natured and untidy in your exuberance.

    In the glare of your mind, be modest.
    And beholden to what is tactile, and thrilling.

    Mary Oliver
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  • blogging,  clouds,  journaling

    Then…

    September 4, 2024
    Scattered Clouds

    I sit up on my porch to journal as the sun and a blue sky of scattered clouds give way to predominate gray clouds. Then… a trash truck picks up one of the dumpsters and loudly shakes its contents into its hungry jaws; a dog barks it’s lonely plea for attention but their pleas are ignored, so it barks louder; a car engine starts up then is quickly overpowered by the blast of an earth shattering stereo, silence seems impossible; a screaming ambulance rushes by as it hurries to the aid of someone in need, maybe it’s silence they need; a demon possessed leaf blower starts up, eager to join in on the noise pollution parade. I find myself annoyed. I let out a silent sigh and begin taking much needed breaths. Eventually, a moment of external silence arrives, the gray clouds move on and in this silence words begin to flow. Then…

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