• coffee shops,  Humor,  lifestyles,  rants,  writing/reading

    … like, all the time.

    Coffee and Conversation
    Coffee and Conversation

    I visited a coffee shop yesterday, one I don’t frequent often for a couple of reasons: their prices are high and they are on the other side of town. Their seating area is quite small so it’s easy to like hear other peoples conversations. I mean like this couple seemed to be like just getting acquainted like maybe a first encounter. Like they were trying their best to express like who they were, or like who they wanted to be. But, I was like interested in their table and the story it told. So, I asked if I could like take the above photo. Like they said, yes. It was like an interesting conversation to hear. I hear similar conversations like this all the time.

    Like I needed to look up this constantly abuse word. It seems the habitual use of the word “like” has become an epidemic. They even have a name for it: “Like Epidemic.” There are multiple articles on line about how to stop using the word. Hope I don’t start talking this way like all the time now.

  • Black and White,  clouds,  journal,  landscape,  musings,  prairie,  rants,  writing/reading

    Looking for Awe and Wonder

    Afternoon Clouds on the Farm
    Afternoon Clouds on the Farm

    I have always carried stress in my shoulders. It’s there now. There is a feeling of restlessness. I find my mind wandering to unknown places in the universe. Feel I’m not listening to the inner voice within me but the chatter of my ego and the noise of the world around me. Maybe if I share myself more on this blog, hear what you have experienced, take more action, the stress will lessen. 

    Now in my retirement there is a life to live full of excitement and adventures, images to receive, words to write in my journals, blog posts to write, places to visit, people to meet and a chance to discover more creativity within me. I find this exciting. However, this requires me to take action and not just dream of them. In the past I have only dreamed. There are no excuses. As I’ve heard, “Dreams without action are only fantasy.” I hope and pray I live the rest of my life with excitement, without fear of failure or success, looking for awe and wonder all around me.

  • Black and White,  Cityscapes/Urban,  Documentary/Street,  Fujifilm X-E1,  rants

    I Used To

    Bicycle in Old Town
    Bicycle in Old Town

    My blogging world has changed over the past couple of years. I do not read the blogs I enjoy on a daily basis. I used to. I do not set aside a time each day, or every other day, to write a post. I used to. I do not shoot everyday. I used to.  I do not post process images every day. I used to. None of this is a bad thing but different from the past 8 years.

    I could come up with a few reasons for this change but this post is not going into that. As some know my home life changed a year and a half ago when my youngest daughter and her two teenage children needed to move in with me. That, my friends is a dynamic change, probably 10 stops of light.

    I’ve, also moved into my retirement phase of life. Now that is an adjustment. I am enjoying spending more time in solitude, searching out places of quiet in parks, nature areas, churches. My retirement requires a financial adjustment on my part. I have to watch for those GAS attacks. There is no supervisor to hold me accountable, it’s up to me to get all those required tasks done. Yes, things are different as I move into this second phase of life.

  • landscape,  rants,  sunrises,  trees

    Change

    Pre-dawn Light
    Pre-dawn Light

    I have several images of this tree taken during all four seasons and at different times of the day. This tree lies along a three-quarter mile stretch of dirt road leading to the Arapahoe Bend Nature Area. I’ve been going out there for the past 10 years for quiet time and photography. I’ve seen many a hawk perched on one it’s branches and even an eagle. I like this old tree and what it stands for. Over that ten years I’ve had the chance watch this area change.

  • musings,  rants

    A Ramble on Technology

    My Glasses
    My Glasses

    Technology has added much to our lives but along with it has come side effects. First, we’re so accustomed to these technologies that life would seem unbearable without them: electricity, gas, clean water, supermarkets, medicines, etc. And, arguably, some side effects may cause more harm than benefit. We have come to feel our luxuries are really necessities such as television, microwaves, phones, automobiles, etc. Can’t live without them. But can we?

    I was taking in all the beauty while walking the path along Spring Creek when I realized I could not enjoy this beauty without the my glasses. For me my glasses are both a luxury and necessity. I had to laugh and knew I wanted to write about it. But first, I wanted to know who invented or discovered eyeglasses? Using one of my other technological tools I did a google search.

    Wikipedia states: The earliest written record of magnification dates back to the 1st century AD, when Seneca the Younger, a tutor of Emperor Nero of Rome, wrote: “Letters, however small and indistinct, are seen enlarged and more clearly through a globe or glass filled with water”. Thus began the invention of using optics so “I” could see on my walk. Without optical technology I would not be looking at the world through my glasses or camera or writing this post. And, that would not be a good thing. 🙂

    And, it’s snowing this morning.

  • rants,  Self-portraits

    Just Me

    Just Me

    In case you don’t know my name is Monte. I do reside or occupy a home but my name is still Monte. It is not resident or occupant. So I do not want my mailbox filled with junk mail that does not have my name on it. Any mail that says occupant or resident does not make it past the trash bin. Yes, you can call it a pet-peeve, a sore spot, a waste of paper, whatever but it causes the hair on my neck to stand up. This idea of flooding our mailboxes with advertisements makes me feel hounded. I wish there was a way to stop it. Anyway, here’s my Friday self-portrait.