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

    Lovely

    November 15, 2021

    I had one of the best nights of sleep in awhile. My Fitbit said I had 74% of light sleep where the norm is 40-60%. Anyway I headed to Pineridge Natural Area with hopes of red and pink skies. I was pleasantly gifted with a beautiful eastern sky and warm temperatures. My car said 48 degrees at home and 61 degrees at the natural area, a distance of 4 miles. I was joined by this nice 2-point mule deer and a couple of his friends. They seemed more interested in grazing and staying alert than watching the colors. Earlier I could hear the who-who-hoo of an owl somewhere in the darkness. Lovely.

    I will be offline for a few days as I’m heading to Phoenix to spend an early Thanksgiving with my dad and sisters. This will be our first holiday without mom. Probably good for all of us be together. I leave on Wednesday and return on Monday. Hold down the fort for me. 😂

    Read More
  • animals,  natural areas,  poems,  poetry,  Reservoir Ridge Natural Area,  writing/reading

    Your True Self

    October 9, 2021
    A deer at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area

    “It’s not possible to save the world by trying to save it. You need to find what is genuinely yours to offer the world before you can make it a better place. Discovering your unique gift to bring to your community is your greatest opportunity and challenge. The offering of that gift — your true self — is the most you can do to love and serve the world. And it is all the world needs.”

    Thomas Berry
    Read More
  • fall season,  landscape,  natural areas,  trees

    More Bluer Skies

    October 17, 2017

    Starburst on a beautiful fall afternoon.
    Starburst on a beautiful fall afternoon.

    This pat weekend was lovely. Afternoon temperatures reaching the mid 60’s and nighttime temperatures down to freezing. The cold nights and humidity brought frost to everything in the morning. Saturday morning included some fog where I could not see across the pond.

    Read More
  • animals,  Humor,  natural areas

    Put it on the list

    December 9, 2014
    Whitetail Buck
    Whitetail Buck

    If you look closely you will see a nice whitetail buck staring directly at you. I came upon him while he was bedded down in the trees just to the left. All I had with me was my Fujifilm X-E1 and the 18-55mm lens. It’s not the lens for reaching out to capture wildlife images. Off to the right side was his harem of 4 does. There was a time when I thought a harem was what I needed but once reality set in, those fantasies are long gone. 🙂

    Even though I’m quite happy with this camera and lens, this image reignited a wish to have more focal length than the 55mm. What I want is an image stabilized 12-400mm zoom with a variable aperture of f1.2 to f2.8 and only weight 12 ounces. I’d even settle for a cheaper, and lighter, version at a fixed f4.0. So, I’m putting it on my Christmas list, right below the new underwear. Always need new underwear. So, I guess I still have fantasies, they’ve just shifted a bit.

    Read More
  • quotes

    Listening

    March 14, 2012

    Listening to Dad

    “To listen is very hard, because it asks of us so much interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements, or declarations. True listeners no longer have an inner need to make their presence known. They are free to receive, to welcome, to accept.

    Listening is much more than allowing another to talk while waiting for a chance to respond. Listening is paying full attention to others and welcoming them into our very beings. The beauty of listening is that, those who are listened to start feeling accepted, start taking their words more seriously and discovering their own true selves. Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner selves more fully, and even to dare to be silent with you.”

    Henri Nouwen

    Read More
  • animals,  landscape,  trees

    To my enjoyment ….

    December 2, 2011
    The Farmers Two Trees

    On Wednesday it started snowing sometime after 11:00 pm and continued until midday. The silence of a snowfall during the night allows us to awake to a new world, one covered in a blanket of white. For me watching a snowfall is a thing of beauty but there is something special when a silent snowfall surprises you in the morning. And, I accept, that along with all this beauty in nature comes the cold and wet, which is its way of sustaining this world of ours.

    Read More
  • animals

    Early Moonrise

    November 16, 2011
    Moon and Deer

    This image was taken in the early afternoon at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. The moon had risen about an hour earlier and the sun is just setting behind me. Even though the deer within the refuge are protected and accepting to us visitors, they always seem to keep a wary eye on us. If we were to study animals more we would see how adaptive they are to the world around them while man seems bent on changing the world around him.

    Read More