• Art,  quotes,  street photography

    The Meaning of Life

    November 12, 2024
    BirdsEye mural by Ren Burke

    I think “the meaning of life” is something we have to formulate for ourselves, we have to determine what has meaning for us… It clearly has to do with love — what and whom and how one can love.

    Oliver Sacks

    We had another beautiful day yesterday, beginning with an orange sunrise then blue skies and sunshine. In the afternoon I headed to Old Town to walk the streets with my camera. I found a few images then did some journaling at Starry Night, enjoying an Earl Grey Tea. I believe so deeply in what Oliver Sacks suggests that the meaning of life is about love. So today I ask myself what and whom and how I can love.

    In 2004 as a collaboration between the City of Fort Collins Art in Public Places Program and Utilities Light and Power created The Transformer Cabinet Mural Project. Serving as a graffiti abatement program, the murals help lower maintenance costs while adding bright colorful art in unexpected places. The program also helps keep the investment local by utilizing local artists and non-profit groups to paint the cabinets. Since the start of the program, 20 years now, over 400 transformer cabinets have been transformed into works of art.

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  • natural areas,  Plants,  poems,  poetry

    Discovering Life

    November 2, 2024
    The seasons finale and still a work of art

    Sometimes on the spiritual path
    It is more fun to walk beside a seeker than a true believer.

    I have no quarrel with those who are certain they know
    Exactly where they are going on the path of faith
    But often their questions are few and their stories familiar.

    It is when you listen to the seeker’s vision
    That things can come alive.
    Questions and doubts, longings and hopes
    Experiences both difficult and transcendent:
    It sounds very honest to me.
    And very human.

    If you are a seeker, I will be proud to walk beside you
    Discovering life as we go.

    Steven Charleston, Spirit Wheel

    It was such a beautiful day yesterday that I made a trip to Pineridge Natural Area for a bit of quiet and to soak up the sun. I wanted and needed both. This morning is just as lovely with blue skies and sunshine. The Canada Geese are filling the airwaves as they migrate to their winter spots. After my quiet time and a bowl of Irish Oats with blueberries and pecans, I met Eric for coffee and conversation. I saw one eagle and half a dozen hawks on my drive over there and back. Undoubtedly they were seeking a meal. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

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  • fall season,  leaves,  Plants

    More than eye candy

    October 18, 2024
    It’s called a change of colors for a reason.

    This time of the year the leaves become eye candy for me. On my walk I knelt down to see what compositions I could find. While kneeling the wind would blow, bringing down more leaves, and moving those already on the ground. It becomes a continuous creation of new compositions. And there seems to be an infinite number of leaves of different shapes, sizes and colors for nature to work with. However, they are more than eye candy because their life cycle includes decomposing, restocking the soil with nutrients and making up part of the spongy humus layer of the ground that absorbs and holds rainfall. They also become food for numerous soil organisms vital to the ecosystem. Yes, they are more than eye candy. How beautiful life is!

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  • coffee life,  Humor,  musings

    The Craft

    September 26, 2024

    The craft of enhancing the morning drip coffee is an amazing thing to watch. The craft is a very important ritual for people as they bring perfection to their cup of coffee. (Of course this only applies to those who do not drink their coffee black.)

    Jeff pouring his coffee

    I watch the scientist in them add just the correct amount of sugar, cream, and honey. Then it must be precisely stirred, clockwise or counterclockwise or both and how many turns. Once that perfect chemical formula is attained, by observation or tasting, they add a sleeve to the cup and top it off with a lid. Interestingly some master this craft when not yet fully awake, or talking on their phone or chatting with their friend, who’s waiting their turn at their craft. Amusingly, some seem to even be mumbling, as if talking themselves through the process, or maybe offering up a pray. I often wonder, once they exit the door, do they remember any of the craft they have just been involved in? And, did they know I was watching?

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  • leaves,  quotes

    A Path of Grace

    September 18, 2024
    Two leaves, similar but different

    We do not want our lives to signify nothing. This would be the most profound and ungrateful ignorance: to remain childish in an aging vessel…Life’s longing for itself, is a path of grace.

    Kathleen Dowling-Singh

    I remember a morning when I was getting ready for work I felt tired, confused, probably hungover, unhappy, and questioning if this was all there was to life. I knew at that moment that I did not want the life I had. My life meant nothing to me. Somehow, and some will call it grace, I moved through that period to discover life is much more than I could foresee at that time. I found lifestyle changes that included letting go of some old thinking, believing, and most importantly an unhealthy lifestyle and career that was not fulfilling me. I look back at it now and see it was my time to let go of childish ways and begin living life’s longing for itself, growing up. Today, even with the challenges of everyday life in this aging vessel of mine, I want to live a path of grace.

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  • flowers,  Photography,  Plants,  quotes

    A question…

    June 17, 2024
    Salsify

    Do you have what it takes to explore what your life might look like if you made the change, made the art, or made the difference your heart is calling you to make, in full view of the risks (which might be very real or only perceived but form a terrifying barrier nonetheless) over which you’ll have to climb to find out?

    David duChemin

    I believe answering this question by taking action is life changing. Have a wonderful week!

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  • Art,  quotes,  Sculpture

    Practice

    June 2, 2024
    Resting On A Rough Sawn Bench by Robert McDermott

    Before we can be poets, we must practice: imitation is a very good way of investigating the real thing.

    Mary Oliver

    I don’t know about you but this lifesize sculpture at the Benson Sculpture Garden looks like the real thing. Please checkout the link about the gardens. There are presently 178 sculptures in this garden. I could spend hours there. My assumption is these artists has been practicing for quite some time.

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