• Avian,  Fujifilm X-T3,  Fujifilm XF70-300mm f4.0-5.6,  John O'Donohue,  quotes

    A Mode of Silence

    May 21, 2021
    Western Kingbird

    “The innocence and silence of the animal world has a huge subtlety to it that is anything but dumb, but rather notices everything and is present in everything. Animals carry a huge ministry of witness to the silence of time and to the depth of nature. They are like the landscape in a sense: they live too in a mode of silence.”

    John O’Donohue

    I believe this to be a Western Kingbird. I am not that familiar with them but they are a beautiful bird. I encountered this one along Weld County Road 15 in an open prairie area. This is a major crop and looks fairly decent.

    Read More
  • Art,  Art/Design,  Creativity,  John O'Donohue,  lifestyles,  quotes

    Standing on Different Ground

    March 22, 2021

    “No one else has access to the world you carry around within yourself; you are its custodian and entrance. No one else can see the world the way you see it. No one else can feel your life the way you feel it. Thus it is impossible to ever compare two people because each stands on such different ground. When you compare yourself to others, you are inviting envy into your consciousness; it can be a dangerous and destructive guest.”

    John O’Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom
    Read More
  • John O'Donohue,  landscape,  quotes,  sunrises

    Morning’s Light

    February 16, 2021

    Light is the greatest unnoticed force of transfiguration in the world: it literally alters everything it touches and through colour dresses nature to delight, befriend, inspire and shelter us.

    John O’Donohue

    Another cold morning (-3 degrees) but braved the temperatures to watch and photograph the morning’s first light. Hope everyone stays warm and dry.

    Read More
  • Black and White,  Camera Equipment,  fountain pens,  Fujifilm X-T3,  John O'Donohue,  Photography,  quotes,  writing/reading

    Giving Thanks

    February 10, 2021

    A gracious mind has compassion and sensitive understanding. It is without greed; rather than concentrating on what is absent or missing, it is able to celebrate and give thanks for what is present.

    John O’Donohue, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace

    It’s 10 degrees outside. Drove to the natural area for the quiet and to journal. Did not stay long, though. Grateful to be warm and inside. Overcast sky and a few snowflakes have been sited. It has that cold wintery feel. And, it’s going to be cold for the next 4 days or so, very cold. I have coffee, chocolate, peanut butter, a new book of poetry (Devotions by Mary Oliver) and plenty of fountain pen ink. I’m good and giving thanks. Stay warm.

    The above image was shot with the Fujifilm Acros film simulation. The Fujifilm website describes Acros as: a recently introduced black & white mode that’s richer in clarity and sharpness, and was inspired by our NEOPAN 100 ACROS film, which was known for its fine grain, rich gradation, and outstanding sharpness. Like the MONOCHROME mode, it’s also available in yellow, red, and green versions, but ACROS also has an embedded graininess that matches the film emulsion original. I like it.

    Read More
  • Avian,  John O'Donohue,  landscape,  natural areas,  quotes,  sunrises

    A Quiet Predawn

    January 31, 2021

    All holiness is about learning to hear the voice of your own soul.

    John O’Donohue

    What a beautiful Sunday morning. Orange glow on the eastern horizon. A cloudless sky. A silence coming from the Canada Geese still sleeping on the open water. There are no Magpies chattering. The only sound being my breaths. I wish, and you can even call it a prayer, that more people would seek out and cherish these predawn moments in nature to experience and hear the voice within our souls. Possibly find more peace in the world.

    May you all have an Awesome Sunday! Yes, it’s a blue theme again. 😊

    Read More
  • clouds,  John O'Donohue,  landscape,  natural areas,  quotes,  sunrises

    That is a Gift

    December 14, 2020

    “Only the blindness of habit convinces us that we continue to live in the same place, that we see the same landscape.”

    John O’Donohue

    Had an early meeting at Pineridge Natural Area with God, a few magpies, low clouds on the eastern horizon, silence and a cup of coffee to keep my hands warm. I watched nature put on a beautiful show of colors that helped keep me warm in the 15 degree cold. As O’Donohue suggests as long as I do not stay in a place of the blindness of my habits the landscape will provide something new for me to experience, and that is a gift. I stayed until the sun rose above the clouds and my hands and feet were cold. Have a great day and stay warm.

    Read More
  • cattails,  haiku,  John O'Donohue,  natural areas,  Plants,  trees,  writing/reading

    Along the Trail

    December 8, 2020

    along the trail
    cattails aflame in sunlight
    field of candles

    ms

    John O’Donohue in his book Beauty asks a couple of questions about landscape that cause me to smile, to pause and wonder. He asks the following questions: “Could it be possible that landscape might have a deep friendship with us? That it could sense our presence and feel the care we extend it?” These questions may never enter the minds of some, especially for those who ravage the landscape for profit. To them landscape is an object to consume that has no reasoning, intelligence as we do. These questions may seem like a waste of time because our ego has convinced us into believing we are the ultimate of all creation, and for many are playing god themselves.

    I have not always believed in having a friendship with the landscape as something more than an object. Maturity, drawing closer to the end of life, and experiencing the landscape with more than my physical senses has brought on this change. Sharing in this friendship with the landscape is the reason I have spent more time within it. I want to protect, respect and care for this friend of ours. I like how O’Donohue is asking us to be open, moving beyond our finite thinking. How different would our world be if we treated the landscape as our friend that wants to be our friend?

    Read More