My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and the mystery of it all.
Love is what shines from our eyes,
Charles “Tom” Brown
beats from our heart,
speaks with our voice,
and meets itself everywhere.
Sooner or later, love will reclaim us all.
But to let that happen now,
to die into love now,
before the body dies … Ah!
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
I am a traveler on a sacred journey through this one shining day.
Richard Wagamese, Embers
Within each of us there is a silence, a silence as vast as the universe.
Gunilla Norris
And when we experience that silence, we remember who we are.
I have not been to Pineridge Natural Area in quite some time so I changed that this morning. It is supposed to rain later today, which means there would be a chance for colors with clouds at sunrise. I parked, turned off the car and was met with silence. I was given a bit of pink color along the horizon and the air was clear of smoke. Dixon Reservoir was calm and offered a nice reflection. I took a few photos then left to meet Jeff at the coffee shop. Sunrise and silence, coffee and conversation with a friend, always a nice start to the day.
I am learning to pray again,
Terry Tempest Williams
not in the way I was taught as a child,
but in all the ways the desert has taught me to listen.
“There are some places so beautiful they can make a grown man break down and weep.”
Edward Abbey
It has been a rather cool day, a pleasant change from the past three weeks. I had blood draw last Friday and met with my hematologist this morning to go over those numbers. She was pleased with my numbers because they are stable. So all is good. They are working on the parking lot so we have had constant noise now for two days. The email said they will be done tomorrow. Seems man sure does enjoy their noise machines.
There’s always a story. It’s all stories, really.
Terry Pratchett
The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything’s got a story in it.
Change the story, change the world.
As photographers and creatives, I imagine we all hope that our images tell a story. On many of my blog posts, I also add content to express my experience of that moment, that morning, that evening, that day. In other words, I am telling a story. Was I cold? In a place of gratitude, or wonder? What birds were singing to me? What was I thinking or feeling? And hopefully the photograph, the content, or both have the potential to be a story capable of changing the world in some small way, including myself.
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.
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!
“My feet were placed on Mother Earth in the midst of others’
Good Buffalo Eagle, The Seven Paths
so that I might learn to walk together with them in my heart.”
The above quote is a good message to this world. It may just be the answer we are all looking for. We have proven so often that violence and hate never allows us to walk together.
A friend of mine fell a few days ago and had to have some surgery. She spent some time in rehab and was finally able to return home yesterday. So, welcome home Ruth and pray you have a quick recovery. 🙏