I have never taken a picture for any other reason than that at that moment it made me happy to do so.
Jacques-Henri Lartigue
There is about a one mile stretch along South County Road 5 that has maybe three or four places where you can see the Poudre River. The rest of this stretch of road is blocked by brush and trees. I like this specific location because it has a peaceful feel to it. The cows graze in their field of paradise, rich in green grass and the river quietly and gently meanders east onto the parched prairie. Friday was the first day of Fall and I could see and feel it… so stopping and taking a photo made me happy to do so. Have a wonderful Sunday!
Cattle grazing along the Poudre River after yesterday’s snowfall
I took my car in to have the tires rotated this morning. Walked across the street to a Starbucks and had a mocha. First time since the pandemic that I’ve sat inside of a Starbucks. Weird. They broke a lug nut on my car so now I need to have it fixed at their expense. I bought the tires two years ago and only have 17k miles on the tires. I have really cut down on my driving. It is cloudy and 36 degrees today. Great moisture for us and hoping it helps stifle the fires.
Clouds and grazing cattle from yesterday afternoon
I was not in a good place yesterday. I felt frustration because of the state of our environmental crisis, loss of so much of our natural world, our political mess, economic mess, the entitlement mentality of individuals and corporations, the anger and violence in our world, and my own insecurities and fears along with my own feelings of entitlement. My journal is one of the tools I use when I become aware of these shadowy mental states. So, I took time in the afternoon to write about it. As words began to appear, I noticed a lot of wants and little gratitude for what I already have. Seems my appetite to want “more” crops up again, even in these troubled times, even when so many are struggling, even when I have all that I need.
Yet, through my writing I became aware the root of my frustration is: the noise. Silence has become a precious gift in my life. So, the noise of man’s machines that have grated against me for years, seemed to be even louder, more intense. Part of that has been the reduction of noise during this lockdown. I think I’ve mentioned this before but sometimes I just want to run away. So I did, even knowing there is no away.
The above image is as close to away as it got for me, about 7-8 miles east of town. I pulled over to watch and listen to nature, letting it all sink in, soothing, healing this troubled soul. The birds were singing and the grass eating cow machines were busily working. There is a twitter quote by Neil deGrasse Tyson that says a cow is a biological machine invented by humans to turn grass into steak. What’s really cool is it’s a quiet machine. Why can’t we have more quiet machines? I didn’t want to go back to town.
