My online journal sharing interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, spirituality and asking deep questions.
We must become so alone, so utterly alone, that we withdraw into our innermost self. It is a way of bitter suffering. But then our solitude is overcome, we are no longer alone, for we find that our innermost self is the spirit, that it is God, the indivisible. And suddenly we find ourselves in the midst of the world, yet undisturbed by its multiplicity, for our innermost soul we know ourselves to be one with all being.
Hermann Hesse
I mentioned pelicans in a post a week ago and one commenter was surprised to know we have them out here. When people who live along the coast talk pelican they are referring to the Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis). What we have out here is the American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos). American White Pelicans are one of the largest North American birds. Watching them fly is amazing. They soar with incredible steadiness on broad, white-and-black wings. On the water they dip their pouched bills to scoop up fish, or tip-up like an oversized dabbling duck. This is a group of them on Dixon Reservoir working together to herd fish into the shallows for easy feeding. We find them in this area during spring while they feed and nest. If you’re interested here is a good read on them.
I have seen several Bullock’s Orioles around Dixon Reservoir at Pineridge Natural Area over the past week. This morning I walked on the west side of the reservoir along the water’s edge. I gratefully accepted this lovely image and the song that accompanied it. The males are a bright orange and easily seen by this new bird watcher. When I got home and saw this image I began to wonder if they sing their morning song of joy because they like the color they have be given, or they like to sing, or they’re happy or all the above?
“Solitude is where I place my chaos to rest and awaken my inner peace.”
Nikki Rowe
Horsetooth Reservoir sits on the west side of the city of Fort Collins in the foothills. It runs 6 1/2 miles north to south and is about a half mile wide. The reservoir was created by the construction of four separate large earthen dams, all completed in 1949 and all modernized with a seismic retrofit in 2000-2004. The reservoir has a capacity of 156,735 acre-feet, a total shoreline of 25 miles. Not quite the Great Lakes.
I gave you all that information to let you know I love the clouds! They are the subject of both image! They are the reason I drove up there yesterday afternoon. I am standing along the east side of the reservoir on a road called Continental Road which travels the full 6 1/2 mile length of the reservoir. I am between two of the four dams looking out across the city after the rain moved out onto the eastern plains.
Then I spent the early part of the morning at Pineridge Natural Area. Fog shrouded the city and eastern plains. The have been 6 pelicans hanging around the reservoir for the past couple weeks. This morning they were scattered about rather than huddled together as I normally see them. So I suspect they may be social distancing or one of ’em farted. Gotta love those clouds!
Waking early I took my camera to Pineridge Natural Area to watch the sun rise. It was cold this morning at 36 degrees. A frigid breeze was enticing the brown grass of the meadow and rabbit brush to joyfully dance together. I was greeted with a meadowlark singing its song of happiness, then joined by a second meadowlark. A couple of robins perched themselves on the fence in front of me and joined in with their glad tidings. I watched a goose smoothly paddle across the reservoir leaving behind its v-shaped wake. A pair of mallards circled above as if not sure where to go. A half dozen white pelicans used their webbed feet to silently float along the north end of the reservoir in search for food. I wonder if that’s where the big fish are?
I offer thanks as I am never disappointed with the gifts nature gives me at these sacred places and times. I like to call these times gifts but they seem to be more than that. Could it be nature’s invitation to share our presence in all of creation? Maybe these times are the most natural thing we can do with nature. By now my hands were cold and I could picture in my mind wrapping them around a hot mocha latte. It has been a good start to a wonderful Sunday! May you have also have a wonderful Sunday!
You have to understand that it is your attempt to get special experiences from life that makes you miss the actual experience of life.
Michael A. Singer
A quiet stillness greets us this morning after several days of almost constant wind. Sunshine brightens the world around me. It’s also 15 degrees. And, I do believe the blue sky is bluer today. Welcome the new day and don’t miss the experience of life. Now headed to Old Town and meet a friend for coffee. Have a great day!