• landscape,  natural areas,  quotes,  reflections,  sunrises

    The Love of Sunrise Reflections

    August 25, 2024

    It was unusually quiet this morning at Pineridge. Seemed like everyone slept in late. Almost no one at the natural area and no traffic sounds from the city. A few magpies and blackbirds along the shore were excitedly chatting about the colors in this mornings sunrise. It was a peaceful and silent time to me. I was loving and being loved by the reflections in the water.

    Just as the sun broke the horizon, a light breeze out of the northwest sent small waves across Dixon Reservoir. Yet, the water still offers it’s reflection. I stood in awe and wonder as a lone pelican gracefully and silently flew over the water. How do they do that? Nature is amazing. After allowing nature to fill me with love and refreshing my soul I headed home. I had my prayer and meditation time, put on a crockpot of 16 bean soup, then rode the bicycle to meet Jeff for coffee and conversation.

    “Love is the inheritance of mystery that we leave to the universe—the proof that consciousness is more than chemicals and fire, but rather a song that sings the why and how of all creation. Love sings it now and will sing it until the end of time.”

    Steven Charleston
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  • clouds,  horizons,  landscape,  quotes

    The silence and the darkness…

    April 29, 2024

    Until we understand what the land is, we are at odds with everything we touch. And to come to that understanding it is necessary, even now, to leave the regions of our conquest – the cleared fields, the towns and cities, the highways – and re-enter the woods. For only there can a man encounter the silence and the darkness of his own absence. Only in this silence and darkness can he recover the sense of the world’s longevity, of its ability to thrive without him, of his inferiority to it and his dependence on it. Perhaps then, having heard that silence and seen that darkness, he will grow humble before the place and begin to take it in – to learn from it what it is.

    Wendell Berry

    Twenty years ago in May of 2004 I made a motorcycle trip to the Badlands for a few days of tent camping and photography. It was my first trip there and I loved it. The vistas, the rugged landscape (they call it Badlands for a good reason), the silence, the sheer beauty, all left a permanent imprint on me. I distinctly remember the experience of silence! Every once in a while I feel the pull to return and experience its presence one more time. But I also want to return because I need time away from the chaos of what Berry calls the “the regions of our conquest.” I can also say this about other places of nature I’ve experienced, including the local natural areas. I wonder if that pull is because of our one-on-one encounter with nature, the silence and the darkness? And who knows, maybe the whisper I hear is nature calling me. What will I learn when I return?

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  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  winter scenes

    Give Your Light to Others

    March 28, 2024
    Raven’s gift of the sun over Dixon Reservoir

    I read a Native American creation story in a book called “Ladder to the Light” by Steven Charleston. Curiosity caused me to do some research about this story, discovering several versions. One enjoyable version can be read here by Pamela Morris. Her story is longer, includes the creation of the stars, moon, rain and a bit of romance. She created her version from a combination of many other Native American creation stories. Charleston’s version has a strong ethical theme and is shorter so I am sharing it with you. Pamela’s story is worth the read.

    Long ago Raven found the light: the sun hanging like a shiny mirror in the midst of an empty sky. Raven liked shiny things. He could have kept the sun for himself, but he decided to give it to the people. He brought the sun, placed it in the nest in the sky, and let its rays bring life to the dark world below. Raven gave away his most prized possession. We are not what we have; we are what we give. Sharing is the measure of our faith, the simple test of how well we have learned the way of the spirit – not to have more for the few; but enough for the many. When you see the sun rise, remember Raven and give your light to others.

    Steven Charleston
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  • coffee life,  gratitude,  I am learning...,  latte art,  quotes

    Showing off!

    December 29, 2023

    Understanding of the self only arises in relationship, in watching yourself in relationship to people, ideas, and things; to trees, the earth, and the world around you and within you. Relationship is the mirror in which the self is revealed. Without self-knowledge there is no basis for right thought and action.

    Jiddu Krishnamurti

    Well, Hannah out did herself, showing off again, this morning with her latte art. I wonder sometimes if the reason I order mocha lattes is because of the artwork or because I enjoy their flavor. Think I’ll just go with both!

    We have clear blue skies and temperatures in the high teens but expecting it to warm up into the high 40’s. I love the mornings when the sun shines in my front room window, spreading its light across the floor and furniture. It is something I look forward to it each day. Depending on the time of year also determines the length of time I get to enjoy it.

    Relationships have become a vital learning experience in my life over the past 20 plus years. I am learning how to improve them, how to nurture them and how to build relationships with others who are different from me. I am learning to embrace relationships I would not expect to have, such as all my baristas. I am learning to repair damaged and broken relationships. And with the advent of the internet I’m also learning to embrace virtual relationships. I must also include the relationship I have with God, this unknown HIgher Power, that something I cannot define or comprehend, as well as a renewed relationship with all of creation. And, I am learning to be someone healthy in a relationship. As this year comes to a close I find I have a grateful heart for the gift of relationships in the year. 

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  • leaves,  musings,  nature

    I truly believe…

    December 14, 2023

    The less we allow ourselves to be touched by nature or to be present to nature the less we will believe nature to be the foundation of our life, that we are an essential part of nature and the less we will know about ourselves. When we do not know ourselves we are incapable of knowing others, yet we will think we do. Just watch how someone who thinks they know-it-all treats you and all of creation. I truly believe that what we do to the earth we are doing to ourselves, and the way we treat nature is the way we treat all of humanity and all of creation. I pray we lovingly touch nature and allow nature to lovingly touch us.

    We awoke to a heavy fog and had a layer of ice to scrape off of the windshield. Now off to coffee. Stay warm!

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  • landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes,  sunrises

    … this meeting place

    December 11, 2023

    I know plenty of people who find God most reliably in books, in buildings, and even in other people. I have found God in all of these places too, but the most reliable meeting place for me has always been creation.

    Barbara Brown Taylor

    The only sound was from my boots crunching the gravel under my feet as I walked to a favorite location along the ridge above Pineridge Natural Area. I like this spot because I can look out to the eastern horizon and find the skies reflection in Dixon Reservoir. When I arrived I setup my tripod then stood, listening to the silence. I like this meeting place in creation. I also didn’t want to take a photo but as you can see I did. Hope you have had a good day.

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  • quotes

    In harmony with the Tao…

    July 27, 2023

    In harmony with the Tao,
    the sky is clear and spacious,
    the earth is solid and full,
    all creatures flourish together,
    content with the way they are,
    endlessly repeating themselves,
    endlessly renewed.

    when man interferes with the Tao
    the sky becomes filthy,
    the earth becomes depleted,
    the equilibrium crumbles,
    creatures become extinct.

    Lao Tzu

    And to think the Old Sage Laozi or Lao Tzu (Old Master) wrote this around 400 B.C. This translation is from Tao Te Ching: A New English Version by Stephen Mitchell. I believe this to be a juba skipper who was hanging around my ponds, so I shot photographed it. But, I don’t believe I interfered with the Tao.

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