My online journal sharing interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, spirituality and asking deep questions.
words from a deep reservoir
ms
fill pages in a blank journal
a daily practice
I have been making it a practice to open my journal after my prayer and meditation time to write from that deep reservoir. I find my days seem to move along smoother when I practice this prior to reading email or any type of social media. The journaling in this quiet time seems to nurture a rich spirituality, a solid foundation for the day, and set my attitude in a good direction for the day.
cold feet even in socks
ms
my hands always cold
cold wintery morning
sky a mix of grays and blues
while the sun tries to shine
it’s warming rays upon us.
made hot Irish Oats
sprinkled with raisins and pecans
good start to the day
“Teach the children. We don’t matter so much, but the children do. Show them daisies and the pale hepatica. Teach them the taste of sassafras and wintergreen. The lives of the blue sailors, mallow, sunbursts, the moccasin flowers. And the frisky ones–inkberry, lamb’s quarters, blueberries. And the aromatic ones–rosemary, oregano. Give them peppermint to put in their pockets as they go to school. Give them the fields and the woods and the possibility of the world salvaged from the lords of profit. Stand them in the stream, head them upstream, rejoice as they learn to love this green space they live in, its sticks and leaves and then the silent, beautiful blossoms. Attention is the beginning of devotion.”
Mary Oliver
I bought a new used book which arrived on Saturday. It’s title is Upstream by Mary Oliver and a series of essays. So far I’m liking it and relate to her spiritual connectedness to nature. So, fair warning you may see a few quotes from the book.
half blank pages
ms
find new words in brown ink
coffeehouse writing
Had a friend give me a new bottle of ink yesterday appropriately named, Coffee Break. 😃 It is a soft subtle brown that shades well, one of my favorite traits in inks, and works well with my cream colored journal pages. Using it in my white Pelikan M205 fountain pen. Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!
“Meditation is offering our genuine presence to our selves in every moment.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
Had a nice quiet time this morning. It was windy and overcast when I left the condo this morning. Wind was blowing leaves across the grass and street, making them dance. It has that feel of fall. An hour later, the sun was bursting through casting rays of light across golden leaves. Quite beautiful! Could see some light rain about mid-day. The high for the day is expected to be 56 degrees. Yes, a fall day.
We have another forest fire burning north of us in Wyoming called the Mullen Fire. It’s burning aggressively, starting 10 days ago, and has now burned up to 68,000 acres and no containment. The smoke from that fire plus the Cameron Peak fire made it difficult to see at any distance yesterday evening, made everything smell like a camp fire and ash and soot descended on almost everything. Several years ago my parents built a nice cabin in Mountain Home, Wyoming. This is near the Mullen fire and the area is now in a mandatory evacuation. It would hurt to see the cabin destroyed even though they sold a few years ago.
The Cameron Peak fire is now the third largest forest fire in Colorado’s history. Not the record we want to boast about. Wind gusts of 50mph have caused it to increase, now at 124,000 acres. The fire has burned east past the Shambhala Center, a Buddhist retreat center but crews were able to protect the temple at Shambhala. The three communities of Red Feather Lakes, Glacier View and Crystal Lakes are still under mandatory evacuations.
I need to catch up on reading and commenting on my blog feeder, so that is my intention today. I will also practice a bit of haiku and continue to read. And, I will for sure enjoy more meditation.
This morning I sat in my reserved chair and had a mocha inside Mugs, the first time since March 15th, according to my journal. That’s almost six months. Hard to get my mind wrapped around how fast time has moved on. And, I still fit in the chair. 😊
From my journal during the pandemic: I wish I’d read more when I was younger but my soul is fertile at this stage of my life for the words I now read.
Feels like fall this morning. Air is crisp. Sunlight seems vibrant. Dew sparkles on the grass. People wearing sweaters and jackets. Students walking to class with backpacks, water bottles, earbuds and wearing the latest fashions in masks. Happy September 1st.