• desert,  landscape,  quotes,  silence,  sunsets

    Silence

    January 2, 2025
    Sunset along Peralta Trail, Arizona – November 2003

    Not sure about you but so far the year has run rather smoothly. We’ll see what day two brings. This morning we had clear blue skies, sunshine and cold. Pretty much what a January day is in Colorado. I rode my bicycle to coffee this morning and took the long cut home. Good start to my day! I have a crockpot of cabbage and sausage cooking. This afternoon we have had soft white clouds floating across an azure blue sky.

    My whole silence is full of prayer.

    Thomas Merton

    Silence has become a gift in my life over the past 10 years. I have adjusted to living a single life and its freedom. Living alone allows silence to become a prominent part of my day. Because of the silence in my life I find the noise of the world disturbing and annoying. There are few places, if any, where there is not some impact of sound by man’s machines. I am learning in my practice of prayer and meditation to allow them to become a distant hum. I like to believe it’s at those moments that I am in prayer. When I can do the same in a coffee shop I also consider that silence to be prayer.

    This image was taken along the Peralta Trail east of Phoenix with a Nikon D100 and Nikon 24-85mm f2.8-4.0, at 1/6 second, f16, ISO 200.

    Read More
  • Arapaho Bend Natural Area,  fog,  landscape,  natural areas

    Happy New Year

    January 1, 2025

    I wanted to spend my first morning of 2025 in nature so I decided to visit the Arapaho Bend Natural Area. In the dim light I could see we had clear skies and the thermometer said it was brisk 13 degrees. This natural area sits along the low lying area of the Poudre River. The closer I got the natural area the more evident of the dense fog I would have. I spent a few minutes walking along the edge of the frozen ponds taking a photo here and there. I had not ventured into this area around the ponds before so it became exciting. There was very little open water. The ice only thick enough to support the geese and ducks. I only took 15 images, but that was enough.

    After loading them on my laptop I found the images to be a metaphor for the first day of this new year. Just as we cannot see through the fog to the other shore, or the path along the edges, we cannot see into the future of the coming year. To reach the other shore requires us to travel towards it facing each challenge along the way. So, I enter into this coming year with both pessimistic and optimistic feelings. May I not struggle with wanting to change people, institutions and principles to fit my desires but make choices that are best for myself and all of creation, not from self interest but the good of all. I guess that counts as a simple prayer but not a resolution! May you have a wonderful year!!!

    Read More
  • landscape,  natural areas,  sunrises

    The Last Sunrise

    December 31, 2024
    Last sunrise for this year at Pineridge Natural Area

    A cool 20 degrees and clear skies this morning to end the year. I got up early so I could watch the predawn colors over Dixon Reservoir at Pineridge Natural Area. So beautifully quiet up there. An owl would hoot once in a while, giving notice, or warning, of their presence. I took a few photos of the subtle colors. When my hands got cold I headed to Mugs for an Old Town mocha made by Adrianna.

    I’m not much of a New Years celebration type of guy. And, I have never been one to make new year’s resolutions, probably because I’m not good at keeping them or remembering them. I’m practicing a way of life where each day is an opportunity to step over a new threshold into a world of experiences and lessons. No better gift than that! When I don’t plan tomorrow I will not be disappointed and more apt to enjoy life’s surprises! However, I may gather with friends early this evening and hopefully be sound asleep by nine. I assume that’s due to age and wisdom (those lessons learned)!! May your coming year be full of unimaginable gifts and may you and your families be healthy. Thank you for your presence and comments on my blog this past year.

    Read More
  • fog,  landscape,  nature,  quotes

    A More Spacious World

    December 30, 2024
    A cold and frost covered sunrise – October 2012

    In humility, with wisdom and compassion, we make a more spacious world, where the experience of our communion and connection has fewer barriers and becomes more possible.

    Kathleen Dowling-Singh
    Read More
  • landscape,  quotes,  silence,  sunrises

    Meeting the Sunrise

    December 29, 2024

    One of the things that makes you feel good is to get out into nature—go walking, go hiking, go swimming in the ocean, or wherever you live, in a river or a lake, experience the beauty of America, experience how America is such a sacred place. Everywhere you go in this land, our people have been there and they have said, “This place is sacred.”

    Ohiyesa (Charles A. Eastman)
    Read More
  • landscape,  nature,  quotes,  sunrises

    Sunrise over the farm

    December 28, 2024

    We have always preferred to believe that the spirit of God is not breathed into humans alone, but that the whole created universe shares in the immortal perfection of its maker.

    Ohiyesa (Charles A. Eastman)

    This morning’s drive to meet Eric was a gift. The predawn colors began as pink, shifting to red then orange before the sun burst over the horizon. About all I could do was stand there and smile. Actually, let’s call it more of a grin! It’s mornings like this that make my aches and pains of aging and where I somehow find the gumption to brave the cold, all worthwhile. So, I watched the predawn colors, listened to the silence, then witnessed the sunrise over the farm. A wonderful start to my day. May you enjoy your weekend!

    Read More
  • Arapaho Bend Natural Area,  landscape,  natural areas,  quotes,  sunrises

    I usually learn something

    December 26, 2024
    Sunrise at Arapaho Bend Natural Area – March 2013

    We do not want churches because they will teach us to quarrel about God. We do not want to learn that. We may quarrel with men sometimes about things on this earth, but we never quarrel about the Great Spirit. We do not want to learn that.

    Chief Joseph

    Seems to me a lot of mankind needs to unlearn this idea of quarreling over God. At least it would be one less thing for us to quarrel about. I know in my life when I stopped defending my opinion and listened to the other, I usually learn something I needed to learn.

    Read More
  • landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes,  sunrises

    Merry Christmas

    December 25, 2024

    Well, the cookies and milk I left out for Santa were gone when I woke up this morning, always a good sign. However, there was no XF8mm lens under the tree so there must have been a screw up somewhere. They must have not gotten my letter. I didn’t think I was that naughty this past year. However, I’ve lived without that lens so far and will continue to live without it.

    Overcast skies spurred me to drive to Pineridge Natural Area for possible Christmas morning predawn colors. A mix of rain and snow began and added to the feel of the morning’s cold. I showed up and was not disappointed in nature’s gift of colors. The reflection off Dixon Reservoir was breathtaking and almost caused me to miss the Great Horned Owl perched on the tree. I asked if they were watching the predawn colors or looking for prey or both, but only silence? And, silly me forgot to bring the tripod so this is a handheld image taken at 23mm, 1/10 sec at f8.0 and ISO 12800. I have cropped this image and used denoise in Lightroom to clean up the noise. It works well enough for this blog. I started a crockpot of chili soup after my quiet time and its aroma is filling the house. It’s making me hungry. I hope everyone has a wonderful day in whatever way you celebrate it. Thank you to all who regularly stop by for a visit. I love this world!!! ❤️

    “The biggest gift you can give is to be absolutely present, and when you’re worrying about whether you’re hopeful or hopeless or pessimistic or optimistic, who cares? The main thing is that you’re showing up, that you’re here and that you’re finding ever more capacity to love this world because it will not be healed without that. That was what is going to unleash our intelligence and our ingenuity and our solidarity for the healing of our world.”

    Joanna Macy
    Read More