My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and the mystery of it all.
“The word blessing evokes a sense of warmth and protection; it suggests that no life is alone or unreachable. Each life is clothed in raiment of spirit that secretly links it to everything else.”
John O’Donohue
Since this is a scene on my bicycle ride to coffee you will probably see a few more images of it.
I recently read where Martin Luther King defined agape love as the willingness to serve without the desire for reciprocation, willingness to suffer without the desire for retaliation, and willingness to reconcile without the desire for domination. There are people in this country, and the world, who won’t agree with his definition. Many cling to the ideologies of supremacy and the delusion that violence is a solution. Those are not in alignment with his definition, nor have they ever brought peace. I also noticed he uses the phrase without the desire three times in his definition. After contemplating his definition I am in agreement with him. But until I can live his definition of agape love and nonviolence in my life, the words written in this blog post are just fluff. Many will doubt there can be such a change in people’s beliefs and thinking? However, I’ve seen such changes in people’s lives. And, then what would our world be like it people lived a life of agape love?💙 Going to post this and ride to the coffee shop. Enjoy your Monday!!
Life consists in learning to live on one’s own, spontaneous, freewheeling: to do this one must recognize what is one’s own – be familiar and at home with oneself. This means basically learning who one is, and learning what one has to offer to the contemporary world, and then learning how to make that offering valid.
Thomas Merton, Love and Living
I had a good night’s sleep but I still did not want to get up. I rode the red steed to Mugs and was wide awake by the time I arrived. Emily was my barista and she fixed me up with an Old Town mocha. The morning was off to a great start. Later I met my daughter and grandson for breakfast at the Silver Grill and of course ate too much. I have been eating out way too much. I notice it in both my pants and my wallet.
One of the Native American style flute makers almost always has a short video describing each flute. After describing it he usually says, “And, here’s its voice.” Then plays it for 45-60 seconds so you can hear it. Maybe we can say that learning who we are is really finding our voice and offering it to the world. And, at this present time we need a few good, sensible, nurturing voices who live on one’s own. I am not advocating those voices necessarily to be booming on any news media, social media, blog or Youtube but in those places where we spend most of our everyday lives: our homes, our work, the coffee shop, a restaurant, grocery store, etc. And in my mind that begs the question, are we willing to offer our voices? It is a lovely day in Colorado, sunshine and clear blue skies. Have a great day!
“…it is not who or what we pray to but what we pray for that reveals and redeems our lives; that what we pray for, not on our knees but in our choices and the stories we tell about them, conjures up the world we yearn to live in and it is our yearning that we act upon to make the world. Every choice we make in our political and personal lives is a prayer.”
Maria Popova
I had a beautiful bicycle ride to Mugs. A full moon was setting over the mountains so I had to stop and took a photo. A few Canada Geese decided to enter the scene which added another little touch. Emily was my barista and an Old Town mocha is my drink. I sipped on my drink with my journal and pen are in my lap. It was a good start to the day and has continued. We just had nice little rain shower with the sun shining. I hope you are having a good start to your day, also!
Welp, when I started to leave the coffee shop this morning I experienced my first flat tire after just over 1800 miles of riding. I filled both tires early this morning before I left and hope I have not damaged anything. I was not able to find any nail, screw or thorn. Without panicking or throwing a hissy-fit I left the bike locked up and walked to the transit center and then took a bus to my condo. I drove my car back and brought the bike home. I did not want to walk the bicycle the 2 miles home. I will take it into the shop tomorrow and let them fix it. I do not want to mess with repairing the flat (front tire) because of the disc brakes. I will feel more comfortable with paying them to repair it. So, I got a good start to September.
These are Common Globe Amaranth planted in the median when you turn into the parking lot of the Lory Student Center at CSU. Every year this flower garden in the median catches my attention. And, each year they seem to plant something different. This is the first time I’ve seen these flowers here. I hope you enjoy your day!!
The conclusion is always the same:
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
love is the most powerful
and still the most unknown
energy of the world.
It felt more like September 1st than it did August 1st this morning. My weather app said it was 55 degrees with 100% humidity when I left the condo. So my ride to coffee was invigorating. Elisha was my barista and an Old Town mocha was my drink of choice this morning. They just hired two new baristas, so we irregular regulars will be busy training them over the next few weeks. My ride to coffee was via Spring Creek Trail. This was the scene along the creek. You can see the effect of the smoke from the fires in Arizona and southwestern Colorado.
My blood draw numbers were not what I wanted. Platelets are still low at 57, down 6 counts from May. PSA numbers up to 4.72 from 2.86 in February. I will meet with the hematologist on Monday morning and my PCP later in the month. We’ll see what they say about the numbers. And, I didn’t hydrate myself enough, or my body is tired of having needles pointed in its direction, so it took four stabs to get my blood. Each left a bruise. However, when I had coffee later there were no leaks at any of those stabs sites.
What gifts we will receive and give today is always a really good question. The answer to that question is more about reflecting back on the day than having some instantaneous answer through a text message, an email or a bolt of lightning. So on that note, may you have a wonderful August 1st!
No people went through an environment faster,
Donald Worster
and more destructively and wastefully,
than Americans have gone through North America.
I again took the long-cut home from coffee shop, making a loop around Spring Creek Park. Round trip is about 11.5 miles. The bicycle trail runs through Rolland Moore Park where people can picnic, toss frisbees, baseball diamonds, playgrounds, basketball and tennis courts. I loved the clouds this morning and stopped to take a quick snapshot. This looks out over a field of grass and wetland. Behind these trees is the park and some apartment buildings. Behind me are houses that go west for about two miles. Also behind me was a guy on a four-wheeler spraying for weeds. The smell was repulsive! It seems wthin cities we find very little natural environments.
Today is Bike to Work Day in Fort Collins. They have nearly 90 morning stations and 12 afternoon stations, hosted by over 150 local businesses and organizations, who are planning to pop up all around Fort Collins. Breakfast will be available until gone or between 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and afternoon stations will be open from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. As Jeff and I sat at Mugs we got to watch and notice all the colors, shapes, and types of bicycles as well as colors, shapes, and types of bicyclists. Dogs riding in baskets, kids pedaling as fast as they can, old codgers meandering along, Tour de France wanna-bes, tandem bicycles with one rider (in the front seat), an incumbent tandem bicycle, some first time riders and old geezers who don’t ride to work anymore. I was surprised to see the variety of bikes and people. Bike mechanics were also available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Today was our barista, Dean’s, last day at Mugs. She is moving back to Omaha where she is from. We are sure gonna miss her, her smile, and her latte art. Thundershowers are predicted for this afternoon. Hope you have a wonderful day!!
I took this image on my ride through the CSU Oval for coffee this morning. I have noticed this scene before but this is the first time I stopped to accept the photo. I did enjoy the BBQ yesterday, ate too much, loved time with family and so very grateful for my grandson-in-law’s safe return from his deployment in the Middle East.
Tao Te Ching
Find contentment within.
Be aware of how you affect your surroundings.
Allow freedom to flourish around you.
Do not impose or dominate.
This is what it means to be sustainable.
I am processing my feelings about this country’s actions taken yesterday. Finding many unanswerable questions running through my mind. How much escalation of hatred have we against Americans? How many more casualties of war have we just brought on? Anyway, there seems to be an extreme attachment to power, control, hatred, and inflated egos. We have proven for centuries that violence against someone (a country or nation) will not cause them to succumb to our will but only harden hearts. I’ve said enough. Still processing and thanks for listening to my ramblings! It has been another hot day here.
It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.
Ernest Hemingway
I so enjoy my bicycle rides, even the sweating. I took the long-cut home from the coffee shop this morning, so I got in an 11.9-mile bicycle ride. I noticed this turtle sunbathing on the way home and of course needed to take a snapshot. Have a wonderful Sunday and happy June 1st!