• clouds,  leaves,  natural areas,  nature,  quotes

    The Strength of a Touch

    The healing of our present woundedness may lie in recognizing and reclaiming the capacity we all have to heal each other, the enormous power in the simplest of human relationships: the strength of a touch, a blessing of forgiveness, the grace of someone else taking you just as you are and finding in you an unsuspected goodness.

    Rachel Naomi Remen, Kitchen Table Wisdom

    I sit on a rock bench looking out across Big Bass Pond at Arapaho Bend Natural Area. It’s about 1:57 pm. I feel the warmth of the 77 degree temperature but accepting the grace of relief provided by the cloudy skies. I notice the small world of life all around me that I so often overlook. Bees, butterflies, and beetles feasting on the nectar of the rabbitbrush. Ants, spiders, grasshoppers and unnamable bugs scurry or jump around me. Cottonwood leaves become intricate works of art as the autumn equinox arrives. And the cattails showing the golden tips of their swords. I am grateful to slow down and experience the healing given by being present to this world. It is a gift that has much to teach me. Now a rumble of thunder gives notice for me to move on. By the time I reach the car, raindrops have begun to fall. (Entry from my journal.) So here are three images from the afternoon.

    This morning a steady, gentle rain falls. It began just after I got up, around 4:30 am. My weather app predicts it will continue until mid afternoon. I have my front door open so I can hear and take in the fragrance of this refreshing rain. It’s a good day to journal, read and work on this blogs transformation. Thanks for being here and have a great day!

  • leaves,  nature,  Plants,  quotes

    … that catch my eye

    Silence is the indispensable climate for all revelation;
    noise renders it absolutely impossible.

    Anonymous

    As I wandered around the ponds I found these cottonwood leaves just hanging around. I suspect the wind has probably torn them away from their branch and they now hang across the branch of another tree. Such is nature, continuously and silently creating new scenes that catch my eye. I hope you enjoy your Sunday!

  • leaves,  Plants,  quotes

    Cottonwood Leaves

    In this age of compulsive reverence for the written word… people… are missing what is before their eyes… Everywhere, if you keep your mind open, you will find the truth in words not written down. So never let the printed page be your master.

    Doris Lessing

    It is a hot day here and looks to be hot everywhere. I took the long-cut home from coffee this morning via Spring Creek Park on the bicycle and worked up a good sweat. It is already 85 degrees here. I am cooking spaghetti with shrimp and mushroom alfredo for my lunch as a treat today. It sounded good to me. Then I found out it was National Ice Cream Day! Sigh!

    We had some gusty winds a couple days ago so a few branches blew down from the cottonwood trees. I get a bit excited when this happens because I know the coloration of these leaves will turn from green to brown then to gray in just 2-3 days. Seems the details in the leaves pop more or maybe it’s their unspoken words I’m hearing. I thought I’d share it with you. I hope you have a wonderful Sunday and stay cool!!

  • fall season,  leaves,  Plants,  quotes,  seasons

    Say whatever prayers you choose….

    Perhaps we should all settle down and think about what’s good in the world and what we want to do here. If we find this planet and its history and its story to be sacred, let’s preserve and nourish it, and then we can go home at night and say whatever prayers we choose.

    Ursula Goodenough

    Another lovely day in Colorado. It was a brisk 30 degrees this morning but we reached a nice 65 degrees. Blue skies and sunshine dominated. I attended, and enjoyed, a brunch with a few of my high school classmates, something we will do on a monthly basis. Had a good time and of course picked from the seniors menu. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do when you’re seniors. Later this afternoon I wandered around the pond with my camera for fall colors and soaked up the sun before it settled behind the mountains. This simple scene, through its beauty and existence, stirred something within me. It’s through these sacred experiences I feel I’m changed forever. And, my words fall short. Hope you had a good day and say whatever prayers you choose before bed.