My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and the mystery of it all.
Trees are poems the earth writes upon the sky, We fell them down and turn them into paper, That we may record our emptiness.
Kahlil Gibran
It’s always a good day when I can get in a nice walk with my camera at one of the local Natural Areas. I do enjoy these cottonwood trees anytime I walk along the east side of Arapaho Bend Natural Area, especially late in the afternoon or at sunset. This time of the year when the sky is clear and the sun is bright the afternoons are the warmest time for a January walk. So I walk, watch and do my best to listen to the wordless poems of the trees. Can you hear them?
Thoreau understood that wildness is not dependent upon a vast, unsettled track of land. Rather it is a quality of awareness, and openness to the light, to the seasons, and to nature’s perpetual renewal.
John Elder, Introduction to Nature Walking by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Needed a Natural Area fix yesterday so I drove out to Arapaho Bend Natural Area. I wanted to get in some steps so I walked along the ponds with camera and tripod. I had no real goals. I just needed to be there. My time there was healing. just what I needed. Beautiful clouds directly above me and over the Front Range. A touch of color after the sun had set. And the water was calm providing inspiring reflections. Nature does that!
My fix was needed because I have felt a bit down. I do that once in awhile. But, I am grateful for the gift of this awareness of feelings. I’ve come to know my feelings are not my reality, they point to something deeper. There is no need for me to worry, or be fearful, or greedy, or resentful, since those are just thoughts. My life is good! Heck we just got a 3.24% increase in our SSA check. My IRA made money this past year. Although I spent part of that on car repairs. The reality is I have everything I need. I am privileged. One year ago I was a very sick man and in the hospital which let me know of health issues that have since been addressed. Today I meet with my cardiologist for a nine month checkup after the TAVR procedure they did last March. I enjoyed a taste of the Christmas season Tuesday evening as I dressed up as Santa for the baristas at Starry Night’s employee party. What a gift that I would be asked to be a part of their celebration. It was way kool! I’m aware I’ve drifted off course with my eating during this season but eagerly accepted a gift box of almond truffles. No, I’m not sharing them!!
I’ll end with this by applying the words of John Elder to my life. I have a quality of awareness in my life, what is reality and what isn’t. I am learning to be open to the light of new tomorrows, new horizons and venture towards them for as long as I can. I am also aware that each season of life is always preceding another season of renewal. So, my fix in nature lifted my spirits. I do have a desire to live the brevity of my life the best I can. Hope you have a great day. Thanks for listening to me ramble or is it babbling.
And, Happy Birthday to my youngest granddaughter, Madie!!!
“We are created out of love and are made to energize the world in love… Aging can be either a life of nostalgia or whole hearted engagement with the future.”
Ilia Delio
I leave today for Phoenix to have an early Thanksgiving with my dad, two sisters and brother-in-law. I may not be active here as I’m only taking my tablet and phone. Hold the fort down while I’m away.
When we recognize the virtues, the talent, the beauty of Mother Earth, something is born in us, some kind of connection—love is born. We want to be connected. That is the meaning of love, to be at one…. You would do anything for the benefit of the Earth, and the Earth will do anything for your well-being.
one way to learn patience is to become a photographer, here’s how
first… arrive early at a favorite location set up your camera and tripod and don’t forget to bring along a hot cup of your favorite coffee or tea then enjoy the calm waters, the cool breeze receive all the gifts nature is offering
next… awaken to the miracles she offers, such as small wavelets drifting on the open waters the great blue heron who stalks the shoreline a glimpse of a hungry fish rising to the surface clouds constantly reshaping themselves with the pink then red then orange colors
then… be sure to pay attention to the whispers rising within you, they are very important some call it prayer, some call it meditation why not call it both
now… say thank you and listen as your words of gratitude drift to the far shore, so, there’s no need to pray for patience just become a photographer and let nature teach you patience
In the late summer season of life, I found authors, guides, and teachers who have made me aware of the gift of my wandering soul and spirit within my own inner landscape.
With no knowledge of an inner landscape I went seeking in the enticing outer landscape yet this wandering soul and spirit of mine was never satisfied, never fulfilled, always lost
Now in my winter season of life my soul and spirit wander my inner landscape seeking the Unknowable, that source of life, Whatever and Whoever that may be.
mws
I’ll end this with a thought from C.G. Jung, suggesting that our wandering has and is the thirst of our being for wholeness, expressed in medieval language: the union with God.
To live a life grounded in God you don’t need information; you need to be informed by the spark of divine presence you always carry within you. But you’ll have to practice this, with concentration, like you would if you were learning a skill or art.
Meister Eckhart’s Book of Darkness & Light
To grow in this craft of photography requires practice. At the present moment I have over 90,000 images in my archives. A rough guess would be that less than 5% of them are good images. I’ll define good as images I’d want to print, frame or sell. And, I post many images on this blog that I would not define as good but want to share them anyway. There is something about them I like. Which means I have a large number of keepers that are lessons and teachers. The lessons they teach may not be something I understand while looking at the image on my computer. Some lessons may be unconscious and only known or understood until I’m in the field and something intuitive, that spark within me, tells me to change my composition or some technical aspect of my equipment. And, that is the lesson practice offers!
This morning’s clouds, predawn colors and reflections at Arapaho Bend Natural Area were a good way for me to start this day. My only hiccup was making an 8 ounce pour-over rather than a 12 ounce pour-over. 😂 I hope you also have a good day in whatever you do!
