• Creativity,  Essays,  Photography,  writing/reading

    He Inspires Me

    April 24, 2025

    I attended a wonderful program last night at CSU. A friend and fellow coffee shop regular, John Barnhardt, told his story of his 27 years as a cinematographer. He shared how he has wanted to make movies since he was about 9 years old. Through hard work and dedication he has/is achieving that dream, which includes winning an Emmy for some of his work. I was impressed with his openness and his vulnerability in telling his a story. I left inspired by his story, the journey he has taken, the challenges he has faced, developing his talents and gifts as a photographer and cinematographer, and how he inspires the students at CSU to believe in themselves and work towards their passions, finding their purpose, and offering their creativity to the world. I encourage you to check out his website.

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  • landscape,  mountains,  quotes,  sunsets

    Enjoying this season of my life…

    April 16, 2025

    If your mind isn’t clouded by unnecessary things,
    this is the best season of your life.

    Wu-Men, translated from Chinese by Stephen Mitchell

    The list of unnecessary things my mind can grab onto seems almost infinite. My imagination, dreams, and creativity are gifts when I work to make them reality. However, learning to let go of those that are unnecessary allows me to more fully enjoy this season of my life.

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  • fountain pens,  journal,  musings

    To Be Fully Alive

    August 4, 2024
    Pilot Custom 74

    Someone shared a quote with me by Mother Teresa that says “to be holy is to be fully alive.” Seems as I’m aging I am becoming more alive, maybe even fully alive! But, being holy is another story. Anyway, my experiences in becoming fully alive has required me to rely on courage. I remember a time when I prayed for courage, believing it was something I didn’t have, not realizing it’s already a part of who I am. And, I believe a part of who we all are. I’ve learned that looking at my failures as lessons rather than condemning myself has required courage. Asking for help requires courage. It takes courage just to believe that I can grow in my creativity, in my spiritual life, to face the reality of life and, yes, to be fully alive.

    Read this morning that the Alexander Mountain FIre is at 9,680 acres and now at 32% containment. Smoke is still bad so air quality is very poor. We are hoping to have rain showers and cooler temperatures for the next 7 days. Should help with containing the fires. Happy Sunday

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  • landscape,  natural areas,  quotes,  Reservoir Ridge Natural Area,  storm clouds

    An Artist of Our Days

    May 29, 2024
    Clouds on my walk at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area.

    Each of us is an artist of our days; the greater our integrity and awareness, the more original and creative our time will become.

    John O’Donohue

    It’s taken a few years to see myself as any sort of an artist. That was primarily because I believed in that voice telling me I wasn’t. And yet, I always had those dreams of what could be. So, I can regretful, remorseful for listening to that negative voice or be the artist of my remaining days. I am doing what I can to be the creative I can be. And, I do that one day at a time, learning from each failure. I also believe everyone is an artist of their days! It is through your shares and your blogs that I know some of you are painting, gardening, flying drones, learning new forms of art, traveling and more. Happy Wednesday!

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  • Creativity,  quotes,  winter scenes

    Where We Become Who We Are

    January 18, 2024

    Creativity is at bottom the combinatorial work of memory and imagination. All of our impressions, influences, and experiences — every sight we have ever seen, every book read, every landscape walked, every love loved — become seeds for ideas we later combine and recombine, largely unconsciously, into creations we call our own. The most wondrous thing about these seeds is that, when they first fall into the fallow ground of the mind, we have no sense of what they will bloom into years, decades, and selves later, what alchemic cross-pollination will take place between them and other seeds in the dark underground of consciousness where we become who we are.

    Maria Popova
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  • Art,  clouds,  Creativity,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes,  sunrises

    A Second Post…

    July 23, 2023

    Poets have always been the ones to see most deeply into the human soul, because they are the ones most unafraid of knowing their own depths.

    Maria Popova

    Yes, this is my second post for the day. Nature is like a poet in that it is not afraid to show its depths and knowledge as an artist using the sky as a canvas and clouds as its medium. This image was taken about 50 minutes after the previously posted image.

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  • flowers,  haiku,  Plants,  writing/reading

    this book of nature…

    June 21, 2023

    rose-colored clusters
    exploding starlike flowers
    this book of nature

    ms

    Sometimes we need to look closely to see the beauty of the natural world otherwise we may miss the gift she offers. I fall prey to that more than I like. Yet, when we do stop and look closely at the Showy Milkweed and its cluster of tiny starlike flowers, we can notice the details and intricacies of her unending creativity. I love this Book of Nature.

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  • clouds,  haiku,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  reflections,  sunrises,  writing/reading

    Simple two notes

    May 4, 2023

    two simple notes
    drifting over the meadow
    a chickadee sings

    ms

    Much like the snowflake, every morning sunrise is different. It seems to me that no two morning sunrises will ever be experienced the same. Each new dawn Nature provides a new canvas and uses every tool at her disposal in her creative task. Using the wind, temperature, light, the chickadees song, cloud shapes and patterns, maybe even knowing my intention and attitude that morning, she continuously offers an experience. We never know what she will offer. Maybe that mystery alone is what draws me out here.

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