• blogging,  coffee life,  fountain pens,  journal,  journaling,  lifestyles,  meditation,  prayer

    … and peanut butter

    October 20, 2025

    Winds have been gusting up to 25-30 mph since early this morning and we may see that continue into mid-afternoon. Because of the winds I wisely chose not to ride the bicycle to coffee and conversation. After returning home I made a piece of sourdough toast with a generous spreading of chunky peanut butter. I then sat in my bedroom chair with the warm sunshine spreading across my journal to write. But before I could get started writing the light and shadows on the pages urged me to put the pen down, set up the camera and tripod and use this image as a starting place for today’s post. As I post this I realize it reflects the life I live today full of prayer and meditation, coffee life, photography, journaling, blogging, and peanut butter. And if the wind wasn’t blowing, bicycling.

    Read More
  • clouds,  horizons,  landscape,  nature,  Pineridge Natural Area,  prairie,  prayer

    … take as needed

    October 12, 2025

    Plant seeds of happiness, hope, success, and love;
    it will all come back to you in abundance.
    This is the law of nature.

    Steve Maraboli

    Feeling restless so I ventured out to Pineridge Natural Area again yesterday afternoon. When I turned off the engine I found myself surrounded by quiet. The water was low in Dixon reservoir. Seagulls silently floated over the water. The rabbitbrush swayed in the gentle breeze. Fall colors of golden leaves and brown grass stood in contrast to the now blue sky filled with clouds that silently drifted over the meadow. As soon as I began to write in my journal, the sun broke through the clouds spreading its warmth over my body, and I smiled. As words appeared on the pages they became the seeds of happiness, hope, success, and love. Gradually my restlessness shifted into a much needed peace and serenity. These times in nature on a beautiful October afternoon have a way of doing that. I took this image just before leaving. And if you’re interested, the directions for this medication is to: take as needed.

    Read More
  • prayer,  quotes,  shadows,  silence

    The Silence of Prayer

    January 27, 2024
    This mornings shadows in my bedroom

    I am learning to pray again, not in the way I was taught as a child, but in all the ways the desert has taught me to listen.

    Terry Tempest Williams

    Over 20 years ago I was given the suggestion to learn how to pray in my own way, that maybe prayer was much more than I had been taught as a child. That suggestion has become a wonderful gift. So my life of prayer, the how, what and who of my prayer is, has become so experiential, personal and inclusive. It is always evolving, a conversation, yet without words. It has become more about listening to an inner voice and listening to nature. I include my journaling, listening for words, as a form of prayer, as is reading. Might as well include laughter as prayer. So is crying. Watching the sunrise. Taking in a deep breath is prayer. And, if we take the lesson, we will find nature teaches us silence to sit with. I’m learning to be silent in the silence of prayer.

    Read More
  • clouds,  Family,  gratitude,  musings,  prayer,  quotes,  writing/reading

    Thanks Mom…

    August 19, 2023

    Perfect does not mean perfect actions in a perfect world, but appropriate actions in an imperfect one.

    R.H. Blyth

    Two years ago today my mother died in her sleep after a couple weeks in hospice. So, of course I’m thinking about her today, as are my sisters and dad. There are moments of sadness but there are those good memories mixed in. I must say I am grateful for the foundation she laid for the person I have become, although I’m far from being perfect. Hopefully I live with appropriate actions and words, seeds she planted. Thanks mom!! I miss you!!

    Read More
  • prayer,  quotes,  silence,  Thomas Merton

    the gift of silence, … and solitude

    March 14, 2023
    A quiet cloudless predawn sky at Dixon Reservoir

    When I am liberated by silence,
    when I am no longer involved in the
    measurement of life,
    but in the living of it,

    I can discover a form of prayer in which
    there is effectively, no distraction.

    My whole life becomes a prayer.
    My whole silence is full of prayer.

    The world of silence in which I am immersed
    contributes to my prayer.
    Let me seek, then, the gift of silence, … and solitude,
    where everything I touch is turned into prayer:

    where the sky is my prayer,
    the birds are my prayer,
    the wind in the trees is my prayer,
    for God is all in all.

    Thomas Merton

    Someone introduced me to the above prayer/poem by Thomas Merton this past Saturday. This prayer resonates with me because both silence and prayer have become a major part of my adult life. I am never the same after standing in the silence and solitude before a predawn sky over Dixon Reservoir. I’ve come to believe it is in the silence and solitude I’m more apt to hear the prayers within me that do transform me. And in that transformation I’ve come to ponder the question, What would our world be like if more people listened in the silence and solitude of prayer? Plus, silence and solitude are great teachers at listening. I’d venture to say the world needs more listeners than talkers.

    I began writing this post on Sunday afternoon and will schedule its posting for 7:00 am today, which is when they start my surgery. I’ll let you know how that all turns out later.

    Read More
  • poems,  poetry,  prayer,  quotes

    This Precious Planet

    March 8, 2023
    Nature’s art of fallen leaves – 2021

    May I become at all times, both now and forever,
    A protector for those without protection
    A guide for those who have lost their way
    A ship for those with oceans to cross
    A bridge for those with rivers to cross
    A sanctuary for those in danger
    A lamp for those without light
    A place of refuge for those who lack shelter
    And a servant to all in need.

    For as long as space endures,
    And for as long as living beings remain,
    Until then may I, too, abide
    To dispel the misery of the world.

    Heart to Heart: A Conversation on Love and Hope for Our Precious Planet by Dalai Lama

    It is cloudy and cold as I watch tiny snowflakes, that look more like sleet than snow, drift in the wind outside my window. While the juniper shrub outside my window gently sways with the same wind. Everything about this morning has that cold wintery look and feel to it. I find myself grateful for what I have knowing there are many who do not. It begs the question, “What can I do to dispel the misery of the world?” And, it is International Women’s Day, a day to celebrate the women in our world, embracing what they offer us and dispel the misery some of them endure. Not much on my schedule today except lunch with my oldest daughter, Christine. Stay warm!

    Read More
  • bees,  flowers,  insects,  Mary Oliver,  Plants,  poems,  prayer

    My Way of Praying

    August 11, 2020
    The pink rose displayings beauty and accepting a very tiny visitor

    How I go to the woods

    Ordinarily, I go to the woods alone, with not a single
    friend, for they are all smilers and talkers and therefore
    unsuitable.

    I don’t really want to be witnessed talking to the catbirds
    or hugging the old black oak tree. I have my way of
    praying, as you no doubt have yours.

    Besides, when I am alone I can become invisible. I can sit
    on the top of a dune as motionless as an uprise of weeds,
    until the foxes run by unconcerned. I can hear the almost
    unhearable sound of the roses singing.

    If you have ever gone to the woods with me, I must love
    you very much.” 

    Mary Oliver
    Read More