• clouds,  lake,  landscape,  quotes,  sunsets

    Ordinary Mystics

    March 24, 2026

    To be an ordinary mystic is to lead with love, to prioritize compassion,
    to regard the world with a sincere desire to see the goodness in others.

    Mirabai Starr

    What I like about her quote is the word ordinary. We do live in a society that thinks we need to be special, different, even superior or that we already are, rather than seeing each other as ordinary equals. We are all human, made of the same stuff, but each with our own unique gifts and talents. Seems to me the world could use a few more ordinary mystics who have a sincere desire to see the goodness in others and embrace that goodness.

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  • bicycling,  clouds,  horizons,  lake,  landscape,  quotes

    Well Worth the Effort

    February 24, 2026

    “There are a hundred paths through the world that are easier than loving.
    But, who wants easier?”

    Mary Oliver

    I finally got in my much needed bicycle ride yesterday afternoon. I rode out to Spring Canyon Park and back, a 5.9 mile ride. The last time I rode was December 27th. It felt good physically and mentally to ride again. I followed that up with a round trip ride to Mugs and back this morning, about 5.4 miles. My Fitbit is telling me to take it easy and go slower and I am. It has been cloudy and overcast today with the wind gusting up to 16 mph but the temperature is 68 degrees. Winter is not showing up in Colorado. The above image was taken last week on a drive along Horsetooth Reservoir. Love the blue and the effort!

    For many years I had no clue what love was. I guess you can say I took a lot of those paths Mary Oliver mentions in search of it , while not really knowing what I was looking for. It also took a while to realize how I had love, lust and desires all tangled up in my head. I am happy to say that the past 25-30 years have given me an appreciation of all the varieties of love we can experience in life and the wisdom that there is no need to define love, but only experience the gift of loving and being loved. It requires knowing ourselves, letting go of preconditioned notions of love, taking risks, being open to the other, and an openness to the unlimited possibilities. That’s true whether loving or being loved. As Mary suggests it is not easy but in my experience, well worth the effort! I would even suggest it’s much easier than being full of hate. I hope you are having a good day.

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  • lake,  landscape,  sunrises

    Being in love…

    January 20, 2026
    Predawn colors at Hebgen Lake on a road trip in August 2022

    “The most important aspect of love is not in giving or the receiving: it’s in the being. When I need love from others, or need to give love to others, I’m caught in an unstable situation. Being in love, rather than giving or taking love, is the only thing that provides stability. Being in love means seeing the Beloved all around me.”

    Ram Dass
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  • Glacier National Park,  lake,  landscape,  quotes,  reflections,  sunsets

    It’s What I Want Too

    October 13, 2025
    Sunset Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park – 2004

    I want to be part of a system in which wealth means having enough to share, and where the gratification of meeting your family needs is not poisoned by destroying that possibility for someone else. I want to live in a society where the currency of exchange is gratitude and the infinitely renewable resource of kindness, which multiplies every time it is shared rather than depreciating with use….

    Robin Wall Kimmerer
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  • clouds,  lake,  landscape,  quotes

    Time with Friends

    September 16, 2025
    Lily Lake

    “To see takes time, like to have a friend takes time,”

    Georgia O’Keeffe

    I enjoyed my day with Earl and Bonnie yesterday and we made it a full day. Since we did not sign up in time for the timed entry into Rocky Mountain National Park we made some adjustments on the tour. Earl did the driving while I shouted directions. The tour included spotting three Bighorn Sheep in a meadow and able to take a few images. We made it a loop up to Estes Park, Allenspark, Lyons, then back down through Loveland, and Fort Collins. We stopped several times including a nice Restaurant called La Mariposa in Lyons for lunch. The tour also included include showing a couple of the Naturala Areas I visit. We were not able to meet up today but I will have breakfast with them in the morning. They are wonderful, warm, and good people which makes for rich, deep and open conversations. It’s nice to meet our virtual friends face-to-face. I wish we could have had more time.

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  • clouds,  horizons,  lake,  landscape

    Misty and Cool

    July 5, 2023
    Love the wave patterns across the reservoir

    Thunderstorms moved through yesterday afternoon, messing up quite a few plans for the 4th of July. I heard this morning they evacuated City Park due to lightning then reopened later and went on with the fireworks display in the evening. Sometime during the night I awoke to more thunderstorms, lightning and rain. I went to my granddaughters yesterday afternoon for a BBQ. I over ate and ate more meat than my body is used to so I did not sleep well. Nor do I feel all that well today. When will I learn?

    It has been cloudy, misty and cool. Had morning coffee at Starry Night then met a friend for breakfast. Went to Watson Lake this afternoon to journal. However I spent my time taking photos. This is Watson Lake with the mountains shrouded by low lying clouds. The small white dust spot on the right side of the image is a lone pelican. Again, the clouds draw me in. Hope you enjoyed your Wednesday.

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  • lake,  landscape,  sunsets

    An Afternoon Drive

    January 23, 2023
    Watson Lake on a January afternoon

    As I turned onto Bingham Hill road I encountered a flock of 15 turkeys swaggering and fanning their tail feathers. I stopped, watched and listened to them. They are quite amusing. Took a dozen images but had too short of a lens for an image I would like to have had. A quarter mile down the road I came across a dozen mule deer grazing in the open field. Again I stopped to watch and listen. From there I drove to Watson Lake to sit at a favorite spot overlooking the lake. I soon heard the call of an eagle then watched it land on the ice with a fish in its talons. With binoculars I watched as the bird devoured the whole thing, leaving nothing. After the eagle flew away I sat in the quiet of the frozen lake. Behind me I could hear the sound of the Poudre River as it continued its journey eastward. So an afternoon drive became a series of spiritual experiences with nature. So glad I got out.

    Swaggering and fanning their tail feathers
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  • clouds,  gratitude,  lake,  landscape,  reflections,  sunsets,  writing/reading

    Four years ago today

    December 5, 2022
    Sunset over Rigden Reservoir

    … I had my heart surgery, where they replaced my aortic valve. So, I thought I’d share my gratitude list with you today as it follows the theme of my last posting: 

    • Thankful for a healthy heart and it’s as full as it is 
    • Thankful for time with family and friends
    • Thankful for the opportunity to enjoy the things that have become such a gift in my life such as time with nature, photography, blogging, conversations with family and friends
    • Thankful for my prayer and meditation times
    • Thankful for my journals, fountain pens and the words I uncover with them
    • Thankful I can experience and enjoy each new sunrise and sunset
    • Thankful for another day to venture into a coffee shop to visit my favorite baristas
    • Thankful for the chance to read poetry, which I’d never done before
    • Thankful for the chance to try my hand at poetry, haiku
    • Thankful for the chance to create more of my photo books to share my photography and my words
    • Thankful for my home and the remodeling this past year
    • Thankful for blueberries in my Irish Oats 😂
    • Thankful for DQ Blizzards 😂
    • Thankful for my camera upgrade 2 years ago and a lust for the next upgrade 😂
    • Thankful that what I have is enough and in all honesty do not need anything more than what is already in my life
    • Thankful that there are still those who embrace love, compassion, serenity, joy, hope, peace and …. ❤️
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  • lake,  landscape,  mountains,  reflections

    Mary’s Lake

    October 14, 2022

    Our first stop on our Peak to Peak highway drive on Sunday was Mary’s Lake. Hardly any breeze so the lake was smooth as glass. Every plant still in the shade, had a coat of light frost on it. Marys Lake is part of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project. There are 2 dikes on the shoreline of Mary’s Lake, located approximately 2 miles from Estes Park, Colorado. Mary’s Lake serves two primary purposes: it acts as an afterbay for the Mary’s Lake Power Plant, and it helps regulate Colorado-Big Thompson Project water on its way to the Estes Power Plant.  I guess another purpose is to provide beautiful reflections.

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