My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and the mystery of it all.
What makes us human
Henri Nouwen
is not our mind, but our heart,
not our ability to think
but ability to love.
There was a wonderful feeling of fall this morning on my ride to the coffee shop. A light fog settled over the grass at Rolland Moore park and this tree was showing signs of the color changes. But the most telling was the coolness in the air. It felt and smelled like fall. It will not be long and I will be wearing heavier clothing on my ride. I hope you’re having a good day!
a canvas of blue sky
mws
a few fluffy clouds
sun rising above the trees
and a tear runs down my cheek
finding more moments
like this lately as I ride
in the early morning
nature freely offering her gifts
l have come to think that care of the soul requires a high degree of resistance to the culture around us, simply because that culture is dedicated to values that have no concern for the soul.
Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander – 1966
It is Tuesday and starting out as a much cooler day. They say it’s only going to reach 90 degrees. I’m okay with that. The cooler air made it another lovely morning for a ride to the coffee shop. I enjoy riding through the cool low lying areas along Spring Creek. The temperature changes perk me up. I am one of those bicyclists who meanders along the trails. My bicycle is considered a commuter/urban ride. Which means I’m not a rider racing to get somewhere as quickly as possible. There is too much to miss when speeding along. Nor, none of us are as safe at higher speeds. And that’s also true of our cars. The bicycle gets me around easily and economically, puts less stress on my lower back than walking does, allows me to get my cardio exercise, gets me closer to nature, and I have much less stress when I get to the coffee shop. And bicyclists who race along the trails seem to think a certain dress attire is required. I personally do not want to see what I’d look like in spandex tights. So, I meander along taking care of my soul and with the camera ready. Who knows when I may encounter dewdrops clinging to dogwood leaves and need to stop.
Every new morning gives fresh hope, for great is the mercy of the new day.
Lailah Gifty Akita
No one will protect what they don’t care about;
David Attenborough
and no one will care about what they have never experienced.
When I rode to the coffee shop this morning it was 67 degrees and 91% humidity with a 30% chance of rain. There was a short moment of confusion as I felt like I woke up in Ohio or maybe North Carolina or Florida. Sure was not a normal Colorado morning. On my way home I took this image at one of the bridges that crosses over Spring Creek. I’ve wanted to stop here before and get a few images of the dogwood plants and those lovely leaves in this area, but never have. Well, today was the day. In these later years of my life I now enjoy making time to stop and experience, and not just take a photo, of what I normally just glance at. Everything is green along the creek which has plenty of shade and the constant flowing small creek. It is a much different scene than our open prairies where the sun has been bearing down on them for 3 weeks now. We need rain. I hope you are enjoying the day!!
There is a section along Spring Creek where water backs up creating this calm pond-like area. For me it offers a feeling of mystery when looking into the depth of this area. It is a complete ecosystem teaming with life we cannot see. I ride slowly through this area because of the feeling it offers me and stopped several times for photos. But this morning I stopped and took a few images with the intention of playing with them when I got home using AI. I worked on them in Lightroom then settled on enhancement with the Anime style in WordPress. I added the white egret because last week I saw one feeding in Spring Creek not too far from this scene. I did not stop for a photo because I didn’t want to disturb them. So, I asked Jetpack to add the white egret. I added a frog to the seen but before I knew it the egret had eaten them. So far most of the results I like and post here are using the anime and fantasy styles which create a completely different image from the original and dramatically transforms them. I’m still not sure how I feel about all this stuff but I am getting a kick out of it and finding some creative juices. It’s much cooler today but still warm.
Stopping is an essential part of the spiritual life. If we cannot stop, we cannot see our True Nature. When we stop, we begin to see clearly, and we can appreciate the wonders of life. We can see that there is no separation between ourselves and the world, and we can marvel at the oneness of all things. To be fully present in the moment, we need to stop letting our mind race ahead to the future or dwell in the past. We need to let go of our distractions, our worries, and our busyness.
Thich Nhat Hanh
One thing about bicycling is the tendency to be more present to the now and not as much time in my head. So this cloud scene required me to stop this morning and take in the beauty and wonder of nature. And, I wasn’t late to the coffee shop.
“There is beauty in silence and there is silence in beauty and you can find both in a bicycle!”
Mehmet Murat ildan
The gift of riding. That’s a simple statement but I think it needs to be expanded on. I had been looking at bicycles because I began having issues with my back when I walked more than 5k steps. This August it will be two years since I purchased my e-bike. From that purchase a new world opened for me and the gifts began appearing. So here are some reasons I consider riding my red steed as a gift. It includes good cardio exercise since it does not bother my back. I do not have to deal with the insanity and congestion of traffic. I spend less money on gas, put fewer miles on my car and I pollute less. I am spending more time in the elements of nature. This was a surprise because the riding puts me in nature rather than being enclosed in a car. To enhance the experience of nature I enjoy taking the Spring Creek Trail, even though it’s a longer ride than across campus. In taking that trail I’m experiencing more of the sounds, sights and smells of nature. While riding I am in the midst of the beauty and the silence of nature. For me it is the gift of a spiritual experience and a wonderful way to start my day.
I bought the Trek Verve+ 1 bicycle. I did a lot of research into what I wanted before settling on this bike because I felt it met my needs as a Class 1. It has a small rear hub 250W motor with 40NM of torque. That easily gets me up any hills around here. The battery is rated at 250Wh, is integrated in the downtube, and lets me get about 32 miles on a charge. It has a Shimano 8 speed shifter, which has more gears than I need or use. I handed them my credit card after the return of my first test ride!
The original image for this scene was taken this morning on my bicycle ride home from the coffee shop. I am standing at a concrete detention wall that creates a small pond used for water control. I must say the bicycle ride home from the coffee shop, almost two hours later, was much hotter than the ride to the coffee shop. Today is expected to be in the upper 90s and I can feel it now. Same forecast for the next 5 days. And for anyone interested I found out Dairy Queen was closing about 45 franchises due to some franchise issues, primarily Alaska, Texas and Montana. Luckily the closures do not affect my area. Whew!! I hope you stay cool and calm today!
If we think of the Earth as a big warehouse of commodities, as mere objects, we claim a kind of privilege to exploit what we believe that we own. In that property mindset, how we consume doesn’t really matter because it’s just stuff and the stuff all belongs to us. There’s no moral constraint on consumption. And so we find ourselves in a time of ecological and spiritual depletion.
Robin Wall Kimmerer, The Serviceberry
My friend Jeff and I both just finished reading a book titled The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer. The above quote from her book stuck out for both of us and brought up a wonderfully enriching conversation this morning. Every once in a while we enter into such conversations which allows us to get to know and experience ourselves better at deeper levels. At least that’s true for me. I am aware of the amount of consumerism I partake in and have been practicing more moral constraint in my consumption the past few years. I am also aware of how much marketing is placed in front of me every day to increase my consumption. I took the above image this morning on my bicycle ride to the coffee shop. This is the same cottonwood tree elder as yesterday but looking from Stuart St. just before I turn onto Fisher Natural Area. I loved the clouds!! They say possible rain this afternoon so to help out I started dancing and rolled all the windows down in my car.