• clouds,  landscape,  poems,  prairie,  writing/reading

    Sing along

    May 9, 2020
    Rainbow in western Weld County, Colorado (2016)

    I had front row seats to the concert. The stage was an old weathered fence post and on stage was one of my favorite solo performers, the western meadowlark. I love their melody but I honestly do not understand the lyrics to their song. So, I listen with my heart and use my gift of imagination. What if their song is letting the world know of the joy they have with life and the desire to share that joy. Then again, they could be asking us to stand in awe and wonder of those clouds placed on the horizon by the Creator. My heart agrees, it is a masterpiece today. Yet, maybe the song is an invitation to return again tomorrow for the finale. And, then the rainbow appeared, a symbol of peace and serenity, and a promise that more is to come. The meadowlark finished the concert and headed to the next one or maybe to practice. Yes, I will return and maybe even sing along.

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  • grass,  John O'Donohue,  landscape,  natural areas,  prairie,  quotes,  trees,  writing/reading

    Longing to Wander

    May 2, 2020
    Nature trail at Arapaho Bend Nature Area

    “The wanderer is one who gives priority to the duties of longing over belonging. No abode is fixed. No one place is allowed finally to corner or claim the wanderer. A new horizon always calls. The wanderer is committed to the adventure of seeing new places and discovering new things.”

    John O’Donohue

    I just read the above quote from O’Donohue’s book Eternal Echoes two days ago. It so rings true for me. Yes, call me a romantic but as I approach my 70th birthday in a couple months, I still have those inner urges, the desires of the wanderer. I’ve been in my condo for 20 years now, it is my abode, it is a sanctuary for quiet, a place to meditate, read and write, a place to rest my head and keeps me warm and dry, and it is a physical place. The wanderer does not have that abode but journeys toward those new undiscovered horizons. I believe those new horizons are a sanctuary, a place of quiet for us to discover. We can just be, wherever we are, even wandering. So, today I’m dreaming or longing of wandering.

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  • fall season,  fog,  frost,  journal,  landscape,  poetic journal,  prairie,  sunrises,  writing/reading

    Graitude

    April 11, 2020
    Cold, foggy, and frosty October morning sunrise from 2012

    After quiet time, prayer and meditation,
    I made a french press of coffee, Heaven’s Blend
    by name, then moved outside to sit in the sun.
    In the warmth I read from Rilke’s Book of Hours,
    and journaled thoughts. I focused on listening to
    the sounds of nature, birds, wind, as their words
    seem to soothe, heal and nurture me with a balm
    rather than the pain brought on by the world’s news.
    I think Gratitude is the word for this day.

    mws
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  • clouds,  landscape,  mountains,  prairie,  sunsets

    What I was given…

    March 11, 2020
    Late afternoon shadows across the Colorado Front Range

    Seems, I have been getting out of town with my camera and tripod more often. That’s a good thing for my mental health and not because of any virus. We had plenty of clouds to attract my intention so I headed east then north and west making a nice loop. As I left town my first thought was this is a waste of time and fuel but that other voice inside suggested I continue and see what we could find. After an hour out of town and closer to nature I could see the possibility of long shadows and sunlight because of these clouds. I knew that if I drove west towards the mountains the long shadows would predominate. And, this is the image what I was given.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  prairie,  snow,  sunrises

    Life is not like that…

    January 30, 2020
    Sunrise in eastern Colorado

    I felt a strong emotion rise to the surface while on my bus ride this morning. Tears welled up in my eyes, not from sadness or pain but more along the lines of some feeling of love. What is strange about this feeling of love is because of an incident of anger that happened 15 minutes earlier while leaving the condo. I was running a couple minutes late and if I didn’t hustle I would miss the bus which would cause me to have to wait a half hour for the next bus. As I grabbed the doorknob I remembered I needed to get my renewed bus pass out of the pocket of my backpack and felt the anxiety within. As I took the backpack off I got tangled up with the straps and my anxiety burst into anger and choice words (#@&!). Almost immediately after hearing the words come out of my mouth and noticed my  increased emotions, I took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. I ask myself what was I really angry at? It was sure not the backpacks fault. This led to a few moments of reflection. While walking to the bus stop I became aware of how much I wanted the world to run smoothly all the time, especially for me. But, the reality is life is not like that.

    Then while on the bus I observed these students solemnly heading to class and wondered what they may be going through. I could see some to be stressed out with school or worried about some relationship that is struggling. Maybe there are health problems in their life, theirs or family. No one’s life runs smoothly all the time nor is there a reason to expect it. The real question is how we face and deal with life. For me the feeling of love on the bus was for those who may be going through much more than getting tangled up their backpack. I have much to learn. Sigh! If you read this far, thanks for listening.

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  • Black and White,  clouds,  grass,  lake,  landscape,  Plants,  prairie,  quotes,  trees

    Beautiful Questions

    December 14, 2019
    Cottonwood trees reflecting in a pond at Rocky Mountain Arsenal from 2011

    “The ability to ask beautiful questions, often in very unbeautiful moments, is one of the great disciplines of a human life. And a beautiful question starts to shape your identity as much by asking it as it does by having it answered.”

    David Whyte

    A few years ago I became less interested in answers and more interested in the questions. We already have too many people who have the answers. I’m grateful for the inquisitive minds in our world today, always looking for another question. Those questioning minds belong to the creatives, the prophets, researchers, the explorers, the seekers.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  mountains,  prairie,  quotes,  sunsets

    Standing in the Presence

    October 15, 2019

    Late afternoon sunset on County Road 17 in Larimer County

    “All that we can do with any spiritual discipline is produce within ourselves something of the silence, the humility, the detachment, the purity of heart and the indifference which are required if the inner self is to make some shy, unpredictable manifestation of his presence.” James Finley

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  • clouds,  landscape,  mountains,  prairie

    Rain Showers on the Horizon

    May 20, 2019
    Rain Showers in the Foothills, Colorado

    Nature supplied me with this scene along Weld County Road 13 this past weekend. We have had rain almost every day and the next two days are expected to be more of the same. My car was a mess as the roads were muddy but man, those fields are green.

    I have a couple of questions for all my WordPress Gurus out there.

    1. I seem to have lost the capability to have the viewer click on the image to view a full size image. I’ve discovered I can set the image to link to the media file but this seems to give me two larger files. Any ideas?
    2. Second is my image caption. I cannot seem to change the image caption font color. At the present time it is almost the same color as my background. See the above image.
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  • landscape,  natural areas,  prairie,  sunsets

    Sunset Walk

    January 7, 2019

    I enjoyed a sunset walk at the Cathy Fromme Prairie Area this evening. I needed some exercise so in spite of wind gusts of up to 30 mph I ventured out there. This is another nature area I can enjoy the quiet along with the songs of my meadowlarks. Sometimes if the wind is blowing, like it is today, the traffic noise from Taft Hill Road will drift out across the prairie. Nevertheless I was bundled up against the cold wind and enjoyed the peaceful time there.

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