• landscape,  sunsets

    Sunset Colors

    November 29, 2024

    “Honor the sacred. Honor the Earth, our Mother. Honor the Elders. Honor all with whom we share the Earth: Four-leggeds, two-leggeds, winged ones, Swimmers, crawlers, plant and rock people. Walk in balance and beauty.”

    Native American Elder

    My Thanksgiving dinner was roasted vegetables and a piece of blueberry pie. It was 20 degrees this morning so no bicycling but when it warmed up to 39 degrees I went on a 7.7 mile bicycle ride to Spring Creek Park. Later just as the sun was setting I drove to Fossil Creek Park to see about sunset colors over Portner Reservoir. I love the pastel colors in this image and also enjoyed being photobombed by a flock of Canada Geese coming in from the fields. Not the best photo because it was handheld at 1/25th of a second.

    Today is Native American Heritage Day. It is was setup to celebrate the vibrant cultures, traditions, and heritages while recognizing Native Americans’ many contributions. Seems to me the Native Americans knew how to honor the sacred, who we share the earth with, and live in harmony with it. While we are arrogantly destroying the sacred and arrogantly still considered them less than us. Our arrogance keeps us from being students of life. And, we have so much to learn!!

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  • flowers,  quotes

    Present Here and Now

    November 16, 2024
    Snow topped tulips from March 2024

    When we focus our attention on our breath,
    we find out very quickly that we are a living reality,
    present here and now,
    sitting on this beautiful planet Earth.

    Thich Nhat Hanh
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  • quotes,  shadows,  snow,  winter scenes

    More Snow Bubbles

    November 29, 2023

    “If we are to see a true reawakening to the sacredness of the Earth and harness the deepest energy of our being to serve this awareness, we need a strong inner authority in our own souls to challenge the religious, political, and social systems that have recklessly ignored or denied this sacredness and are imperiling the very future of the world.”

    John Philip Newell, Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul

    I write this post from the warmth of a coffee shop with a beautifully crafted mocha latte in front of me. We had a magnificent Colorado sunrise that brought a smile to my face and a spark of joy in my heart. This past snowfall gave us a taste of the beauty of our winter wonderland. We still have cold temperatures but with the help of the suns rays, the snow melts, offering its life source into the soil. I love the sacredness and beauty nature offers, even snow bubbles.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  quotes,  sunsets

    Humanity’s Wholeness

    November 20, 2023

    Humanity’s great wisdom traditions are given not to compete with each other but to complete each other. We need each other as much as the species of the earth need one another to be whole.

    John Philip Newell

    This past Thursday and Friday brought rain showers while in Phoenix. Along with the light rain we were given a couple of beautiful sunsets. This is looking east off the back patio of Marcee and John’s home last Friday evening. Our skies look different this morning in Colorado as we have overcast skies and wind gusting up to 30mph. Leaves tumbled and danced in front of me as I walked to coffee. Made me smile. It looks and feels like late fall. I have an MRI this afternoon at 5:00 pm as they continue testing. I like Newells quote and pray for humanity’s wholeness!

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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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  • John O'Donohue,  landscape,  Plants,  quotes,  seasons,  sunrises,  trees,  winter scenes

    It is within…

    January 7, 2023

    The ancient rhythms of the earth have insinuated themselves into the rhythms of the human heart. The earth is not outside us; it is within: the clay from where the tree of the body grows.

    John O’Donohue

    Sorry for another quote by John O’Donohue but he is one of my favorites. Yesterday was a fairly good day for me, I rested well and the energy carried through the day. We have been in a cold spell the past few days. We received about 1-2 inches of snow a week ago and it still is on the ground. Overcast skies and the cold temperatures have kept the Colorado sun from melting the snow and warming us up. However the weather app says we can see sunshine this afternoon. Anyway, here is an image from a cold December sunrise in 2011. Have a great weekend!!!

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  • horizons,  landscape,  natural areas,  quotes,  Reservoir Ridge Natural Area,  sunsets

    Gifts of the World

    August 6, 2022
    Setting sun at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area

    “When I close my eyes and wait for my heartbeat to match the drum, I envision people recognizing, for perhaps the first time, dazzling gifts of the world, seeing them with new eyes, just as they teeter on the cusp of undoing. Maybe just in time. Or maybe too late.”

    Robin Wall Kimmerer, from the Epilogue

    I’ve finished Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book called Braiding Sweetgrass. It’s been a while since a book has captivated me, educated me, moved me to tears, laughter and anger but left me with a desire to start rereading as soon as I finished. I found much enlightenment about nature that I was never taught in school or don’t remember or my focus was on the ballgame after school.

    Kimmerer said she wrote the book because, “I wanted readers to understand that Indigenous knowledge and Western science are both powerful ways of knowing, and that by using them together we can imagine a more just and joyful relationship with the Earth.” She explains how Indigenous people know a nature different than we do, most of that gained from reading the book of nature. That has stirred me to want to read more of this book of nature which means spending more time with her. Highly recommend the book.

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