• grass,  Plants,  quotes

    Life is like that

    September 19, 2026

    Letting there be room for not knowing is the most important thing of all. When there’s a big disappointment, we don’t know if that’s the end of the story. It may just be the beginning of a great adventure. Life is like that. We don’t know anything. We call something bad; we call it good. But really we just don’t know.

    Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
    Cenchrus longisetus from the CSU Flower Trial Gardens

    Cenchrus longisetus, previously known as Pennisetum villosum, is a species of flowering plant in the family Poaceae, known by the common name feathertop grass or just feathertop. It is native to northeastern Africa and parts of the Arabian Peninsula, and it is grown elsewhere as an ornamental plant. It can sometimes be found growing wild where it has escaped cultivation. This is a perennial grass growing in rhizomatous clumps, producing erect stems up to about 75 centimeters tall. The inflorescence is a panicle of clustered spikelets surrounded by a cloudlike mass of plumose white bristles up to 5 centimeters long. In temperate climates it is hardy in mild or coastal areas, where temperatures do not fall much below freezing. Alternatively it is often grown as an annual. (Source Wikipedia) It reminds me of ocean waves when the wind is blowing but so silent.

    On Thursday I had my Covid and RSV vaccinations. I was feeling pretty good until early evening then went to bed about 7pm exhausted. I slept for about twelve hours, but it was not very good sleep. About mid morning on Friday, I took a two hour nap. I felt run down and tired all day Friday and even some body ache. I again went to bed early around 7pm last night. I slept really well and feel pretty good today. Life is like that. Hoping you have a great weekend and enjoy the coming week that looks to be cooler temperatures. Enjoy!

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  • grass,  Plants,  quotes

    “We” rather than “I”

    August 24, 2026

    “In a gift economy, wealth is understood as having enough to share, and the practice for dealing with abundance is to give it away. In fact, status is determined not by how much one accumulates, but by how much one gives away. The currency in a gift economy is relationship, which is expressed as gratitude, as interdependence and the ongoing cycles of reciprocity. A gift economy nurtures the community bonds that enhance mutual well-being; the economic unit is “we” rather than “I” as all flourishing is mutual.”

    Robin Wall Kimmerer, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
    Backlit Foxtail Barley (Hordeum jubatum)

    It looks to me like the Foxtail Barley has a better grasp of the meaning of “We” than we do.

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  • grass,  Humor,  Plants,  quotes

    We’ll call it barley…

    July 18, 2025

    It has been a laid back Friday for me. I rode the bicycle to coffee and then relaxed the rest of the day. Relaxing included: lots of reading, writing this short blog post, making tuna salad, took my monthly shower and even put on clean underwear.

    Foxtail barley, Bobtail barley, Squirreltail barley, and Intermediate barley

    Someone who is filled with ideas, concepts, opinions and convictions cannot be a good host. There is no inner space to listen, no openness to discover the gift of the other. It is not difficult to see how those “who know it all” can kill a conversation and prevent an interchange of ideas. The more mature we become the more we will be able to give up our inclination to grasp, catch, and comprehend the fullness of life and the more we will be ready to let life enter into us.

    Henri Nouwen

    I don’t know but there sure seems to be too many “who know it all” or worse yet, who “think they know it all.” Wouldn’t it be wonderful if more people listened and were open to discover the gift of the other. Then we all could just call this grass barley. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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  • Dewdrops,  grass,  Plants,  quotes

    Doing the Work of the World

    July 14, 2025
    Dew covered grass at the meadow’s edge

    Sometimes I wish I could photosynthesize so that just by being, just by shimmering at the meadow’s edge or floating lazily on a pond, I could be doing the work of the world while standing silent in the sun.

    Robin Wall Kimmerer

    I’m not sure we can be doing the work of the world unless we know
    we are a part of the world rather than apart from the world.

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  • bicycle rides,  coffee life,  grass,  Plants,  trees

    But I’m tempted…

    July 12, 2025

    As I rode through the CSU Oval on Friday there was a young woman walking barefoot on the grass. Almost made me want to stop and take my shoes off. Yet, when I think about all the chemicals they put down on that grass, to keep it green and growing, I keep my shoes on and keep riding. But I’m tempted… If you look closely you will see chalk drawing on the sidewalk. I assume made by the children who have come for a summer camp week and encouraged by student leaders. We had rain during the night so we awoke to overcast skies and cool. I saw where we had from one tenth of an inch to half an inch in Fort Collins. Happy Saturday!

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  • grass,  Plants,  quotes

    In What We Wonder…

    June 22, 2024

    Our spiritual journey is measured not by how many answers we have accumulated, but by how many questions we have confronted. Our wisdom is not in what we know, but in what we wonder.

    Steven Charleston

    This grass, which I believe is some form of barley, grabbed my photographer’s eye. I like how the light breeze created a blur with some of the grass heads. It’s an abstract yet recognizable image. I am so in awe and wonder of this world we live in.

    They found 2 polyps in my colonoscopy, now waiting on pathology results. All went smoothly. Discovered a flat tire when I woke up this morning. Put the spare on and then took it to Discount Tire. Repaired tire and no charge. I like excitement in my life, except for colonoscopies.! Have a wonderful Saturday!

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  • grass,  Plants,  quotes

    …lived well.

    September 17, 2023

    The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.

    Ralph Waldo Emerson

    Driving to Red Feather Lakes to shoot senior portraits for a friend today. Haven’t been up in that area for quite some time. Have a wonderful Sunday!

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  • clouds,  fountain pens,  grass,  horizons,  journal,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  Plants,  quotes,  writing/reading

    Who I’m Becoming

    September 7, 2023

    … the truth is that we simply don’t know — we don’t know where life ultimately leads, we don’t know what we want or what to want, and we don’t really know ourselves. 

    Maria Popova

    I’ve mentioned before my belief of how little I think I think I know. Yet there are times when some sense of knowing does rise within me. This knowing is not about having an answer or solution to a problem. It’s a knowing that somehow changes my perspective on life, this world, people, and myself. I find this knowing to be one of the adventures in life, a place of growth. I am slowly learning small bits of who I’m not and who I’m becoming.

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