• landscape,  moon,  mountains,  quotes

    Sacred Path of the Warrior

    December 30, 2023

    Cool loneliness allows us to look honestly and without aggression at our own minds. We can gradually drop our ideals of who we think we ought to be, or who we think we want to be, or who we think other people think we want to be or ought to be. We give it up and just look directly with compassion and humor at who we are. Then loneliness is no threat and heartache, no punishment. Cool loneliness doesn’t provide any resolution or give us ground under our feet. It challenges us to step into a world of no reference point without polarizing or solidifying. This is called the middle way, or the sacred path of the warrior.

    Pema Chödrön

    I enjoyed my drive to Windsor for coffee and conversation with Eric this morning. Clear blue skies, sunshine and cold. I saw a half dozen hawks and one with a mouse, the mornings special. I have also seen at least one eagle the past three weeks. Last Saturday I saw four. May have to take my longer lens next week. I needed to stop and accept this scene with our Rocky Mountains draped in a pink alpenglow and the moon looking out over it all.

    Pema Chödrön’s quote again reminds me of those images I have of who I am or what I ought to be. I also like how she suggests we look directly with compassion and humor at ourselves and walk that sacred path of the warrior. Hope you have a wonderful Saturday!

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  • moon,  quotes,  spirituality

    I had another one…

    October 20, 2023
    Last night’s moon

    “A mystic is someone who has an experience of union with The One—and The One may be God, it may be Mother Earth, it may be the cosmos. That experience is rare, but everyone has them I think, where you momentarily forget that you are a separate ego, personality, self, and you experience your interconnectedness with all that is.”

    Mirabai Starr

    Captivated by the moon on my walk last night, I grabbed my camera when I finished and took about a dozen images. I find myself standing in awe and wonder and gratitude when I experience moments like this. Something inside me agrees with Mirabai that everyone has had some mystical experience in their life. I know I’ve had those experiences in my life where I no longer needed to ask who I am or my purpose or any other question. I felt I was just where I was meant to be at that moment, maybe accepting a gift of interconnectedness. I had another one last night. Enjoy your Friday!

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  • landscape,  moon,  natural areas,  Reservoir Ridge Natural Area

    Coffee and Conversation

    September 23, 2023

    It had been a few weeks since I visited Reservoir Ridge Natural Area and thought last night was a good time to remedy that. I went to journal in the sun before it set. Silence surrounded me except for a lone meadowlark singing every once in awhile. I loved the waxing crescent moon set in the cloudless blue sky. I’m off to meet Eric for coffee and conversation. Enjoy your Saturday!!

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  • landscape,  moon,  moonrise

    Okay for my standards

    August 31, 2023

    I made a last minute decision to go watch and photograph the Super Blue Moon last night. Surprised to see all the traffic up around Pineridge and Horsetooth as people showed up to watch the moonrise. I was aware of how disinterested I was in witnessing this event. I was more interested in photographing it, yet only took six images then made my way home. Shot at 300mm, 1/10th second, f5.6 and iso of 400. In case you don’t know the Super Blue Moon is the convergence of three lunar occurrences – a full Moon, a Supermoon, and a blue Moon. A blue Moon is the term used for when we see the full Moon twice in a month. This is not the best image but considering the moon is over 222,000 miles away and orbiting at 2,228 miles per hour it’s okay for my standards.

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  • leaves,  Mary Oliver,  moon,  Plants,  quotes

    … the real poem.

    August 30, 2023

    From the Book of Time

    I rose this morning early as usual, and went to my desk.
    But it’s spring,

    and the thrush is in the woods,
    somewhere in the twirled branches, and he is singing…

    I am touching a few leaves.

    I am noticing the way the yellow butterflies
    move together, in a twinkling cloud, over the field.

    And I am thinking: maybe just looking and listening
    is the real work.

    Maybe the world, without us,
    is the real poem.

    Mary Oliver

    I hope you were able to see the blue moon last night or this morning, one of the brightest and largest moons of 2023. I will try this evening to watch it rise and maybe get a photo. My son called last night and was in complete awe of the size and beauty of the moon. The blue moon won’t happen again until 2037. Praying for those in the path of hurricane Idalia! I am off to meet my friend Mark for the senior breakfast meal at IHOP. Have a great day!

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  • moon,  Rumi,  shadows,  street photography

    A perfect day for reading

    November 10, 2022
    Full moon at the bus stop on my way to the coffee shop

    “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

    Rumi

    It’s been cold, windy and gusty today. The sun has peaked in and out of a cloudy blue/gray sky. And, when the sun does break through everything lights up, glowing brilliantly. I found it to be a perfect day for reading. I’ve gained enough wisdom to know I’m unable to change the world or the people in it but I’m only able to change how I interact with the world and the people in it, which is far more important. It also follows that when I change, the world is changed in some small way.

    Those who are dealing with the power of Nicole please be safe.

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  • landscape,  moon,  natural areas,  Reservoir Ridge Natural Area,  silence

    Silence…

    September 20, 2022

    Now at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area. Sun has set and the moon sits in the southern sky. Silence. This is why I come here. Full of gratitude for its gifts. Blackbirds and meadowlarks sing good night. Magpies fly above heading for the cottonwood trees along Claymore Lake to roost for the night. Such a lovely ecosystem that man made noise has a difficult time reaching. I am full of love for you and all of creation. Silence…

    ms, journal: /30/2022
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