My online journal sharing interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, spirituality and asking deep questions.
I start my day with quiet time
before planning the tasks ahead
and now a mocha at a favorite shop.Always have my camera, my journal,
my fountain pens and now-a-days
the needed reading glasses.I write to start the day slowly
not rushing blindly forward or the
day cannot be lived to its fullest.I write to find words that help
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lead me one step at a time for
words that become today’s gifts.
Storm clouds were on the eastern horizon enticing me to head out of town to find open areas for an image or two. Before I knew it I was on a course heading north to the Soapstone Natural Area. I did get a few cloud images but I also was gifted with a few unexpected images of this beautiful landscape and a few bison images.
This natural area is the biggest one the City of Fort Collins maintains. It is 48 square miles of wide open vistas, nearly pristine grasslands, miles of trails and cultural resources. The trails are a mix for hiking, biking and horses. Thankfully they have restricted access to some areas to keep them free of man’s destructive tendencies. During excavations in the 1930s by the Smithsonian and Colorado Museum of Natural History they conclusively dated human habitation in in this area to at least 10,000 years. You can go online and find many stories about the early homesteaders, mostly ranchers and sheepherders, in this area as well as the American Indians.
In November of 2015 they introduced a herd of bison on over 1,000 acres of pasture land which is inaccessible to the public. However, the main entrance road, Rawhide Flats Road, and Cheyenne Rim Trail, follow along the edge of this pasture which gives an opportunity to observe them and even get a few photographs, if they are close enough. I find these animals so intriguing.
And of course this area is a haven for my favorite bird the meadowlark. It is also a place for many other birds, such as red-tailed hawks. The Fort Collins Audubon has a bird checklist that’s two pages long. You will find coyotes, fox, rabbits, prairie dogs, deer, antelope, and elk and of course a few snakes. I don’t go there often enough and it is always an uplifting experience for my soul when I go. It’s nice to come home with a few images but just spending time there, listening to the silence, transforms me in some wonderful way. Experiencing nature’s touch.
ominous storm clouds in the east
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rain, hail and wind hidden within
we watch in silence, the hawk and I
a flash of blue catches my eye
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a quick flutter on the fence post
always keeping a safe distance
with trills of rich musical notes
a rare sight in this area
at the edge of their range
found in bushy, moist pastures
and roadside thickets
gift of a blue grosbeak
looking for words
ms
in books as well as
blank pages of a journal
looking for images
in nature as well as
a favorite coffeehouse
filling my days with both
filling my soul with both
filling a mug with a mocha
start my day this way
In Praise of the Earth
Let us bless
The imagination of the Earth,
That knew early the patience
To harness the mind of time,
Waited for the seas to warm,
Ready to welcome the emergence
Of things dreaming of voyaging
Among the stillness of land.And how light knew to nurse
The growth until the face of the Earth
Brightened beneath a vision of color.When the ages of ice came
And sealed the Earth inside
An endless coma of cold,
The heart of the Earth held hope,
Storing fragments of memory,
Ready for the return of the sun.Let us thank the Earth
That offers ground for home
And holds our feet firm
To walk in space open
To infinite galaxies.Let us salute the silence
And certainty of mountains:
Their sublime stillness,
Their dream-filled hearts.The wonder of a garden
Trusting the first warmth of spring
Until its black infinity of cells
Becomes charged with dream;
Then the silent, slow nurture
Of the seed’s self, coaxing it
To trust the act of death.The humility of the Earth
That transfigures all
That has fallen
Of outlived growth.The kindness of the Earth,
Opening to receive
Our worn forms
Into the final stillness.Let us ask forgiveness of the Earth
For all our sins against her:
For our violence and poisonings
Of her beauty.Let us remember within us
The ancient clay,
Holding the memory of seasons,
The passion of the wind,
The fluency of water,
The warmth of fire,
The quiver-touch of the sun
And shadowed sureness of the moon.That we may awaken,
from To Bless the Space Between Us
To live to the full
The dream of the Earth
Who chose us to emerge
And incarnate its hidden night
In mind, spirit, and light.
by John O’Donohue
I give thanks for arriving
On Waking
Safely in a new dawn,
For the gift of eyes
To see the world,
The gift of mind
To feel at home
In my life,
The waves of possibility
Breaking on the shore of dawn,
The harvest of the past
That awaits my hunger,
And all the furtherings
This new day will bring.
by John O’Donohue
Awoke way too early then struggled to get back to sleep, seem to have more of those nights over the past few years.
So, I crawled out of bed at 4:00 am, had my quiet time, made a french press then headed to the Arapaho Bend Natural Area; may need a nap later.
At 5:45 am most people are still wrapped in blankets so it was quiet except for the birds, they always rise early; always in a seemingly good mood.
The weather people predicted a cloudy day, then rain later, so I took the chance for a sprinkling of clouds in the east; I was awake anyway.
I like the solitude of my life, living alone, plenty of quiet, yearning to live near a natural area, always one of my daydreams; it could come true.
Then I’d rise early each morning to greet the sunrise while listening to the free concert and tire you with too many sunrise images; See!
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