• landscape,  natural areas,  Reservoir Ridge Natural Area,  seasons,  snow

    Springtime in Colorado

    May 20, 2022

    Springtime in Colorado includes snow in May in case you didn’t know that. This was taken at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area about an hour ago. Rain began about midnight and is slowly turning to snow. Snow is already on the foothills at probably 6500 feet and the higher elevations are shrouded in clouds and snow. Forecast this morning says 4-12 inches of snow will accumulate throughout the day and end tomorrow by noon. My weather app says it’s 37 degrees. The meadowlarks were singing as I took this image. Seems each day is a day to be grateful to them. We can learn from them. I’m now having a bowl of hot Irish Oats with blueberries. Seemed appropriate. Turned the furnace on, too. Meanwhile Phoenix and Charlotte will be in the 90’s.

    Read More
  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  quotes,  Reservoir Ridge Natural Area,  sunsets

    A paragraph at a time…

    December 5, 2021

    “The acceptance of oneself is the essence of the whole moral problem and the epitome of a whole outlook on life. That I feed the hungry, that I forgive an insult, that I love my enemy in the name of Christ — all these are undoubtedly great virtues. What I do unto the least of my brethren, that I do unto Christ. But what if I should discover that the least among them all, the poorest of all the beggars, the most impudent of all the offenders, the very enemy himself — that these are within me, and that I myself stand in need of the alms of my own kindness — that I myself am the enemy who must be loved — what then? As a rule, the Christian’s attitude is then reversed; there is no longer any question of love or long-suffering; we say to the brother within us “Raca,” and condemn and rage against ourselves. We hide it from the world; we refuse to admit ever having met this least among the lowly in ourselves.”

    C.G. Jung

    Philosophy has had my interest for the past 25 years but reading some of it can be daunting for me. Yet I have this desire to know myself at a deep level, to gain some enlightenment of the struggles all humans face and more. I have read small bits and pieces of Carl Gustav Jung and know he has impacted many authors I read. I am currently reading my first of his books, The Undiscovered Self. With my thinker this may be a paragraph at a time. Wish me luck.😂

    It was three years ago today that I had my open heart surgery where they replaced my aortic valve. Emotional. Grateful.

    Read More
  • landscape,  quotes,  sunsets

    Living Each Day

    October 20, 2021

    What lies before us today is an unpainted picture.

    Touchstones

    Stopped at the Cobb Lake State Wildlife Area while driving around the other evening. It was quiet and calm so I listened and took a few photos. I have never hiked these trails but will need to explore them soon.

    It’s a brisk 33 degrees this morning and a beautiful full moon. Hope you have a great day!

    Read More
  • clouds,  landscape,  Plants,  quotes,  sunsets,  trees

    A Part of It

    September 29, 2021

    Solitude has its own special work: a deepening awareness that the world needs. A struggle against alienation. True solitude is deeply aware of the world’s needs. It does not hold the world at arm’s length.

    Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander

    I consider myself a man of solitude, even more-so over the past few years. Some of that is due to a practice of prayer, silence, meditation, photography, a need for connection to nature and maturity through life experiences. One grandson calls me a hermit but mostly because I have a simple life, less attachment to things than he does.

    My solitude does not alienate me from some of the brokenness within the world. There are ways to keep abreast of world situations without sitting in front of a television or having our face glued to the news feed on our phones. Admittedly, I’ve been guilty of all the above. I’m finding ways to stay actively connected to the world, find solitude and not be alienated from the world.

    We are a part of all creation, not apart from. Wayne Teasdale says to experience solitude as a mystic or monk in the world and not be alienated from it is to be “… engaged in the world and with others but not attached to the world’s greed, indifference, insensitivity, noise, confusion, pettiness, unease, tension and irreverence.” I may be more aware of the worlds needs than I have ever been and always a part of it.

    Read More
  • clouds,  landscape,  mountains,  prairie

    Rain Showers on the Horizon

    May 20, 2019
    Rain Showers in the Foothills, Colorado

    Nature supplied me with this scene along Weld County Road 13 this past weekend. We have had rain almost every day and the next two days are expected to be more of the same. My car was a mess as the roads were muddy but man, those fields are green.

    I have a couple of questions for all my WordPress Gurus out there.

    1. I seem to have lost the capability to have the viewer click on the image to view a full size image. I’ve discovered I can set the image to link to the media file but this seems to give me two larger files. Any ideas?
    2. Second is my image caption. I cannot seem to change the image caption font color. At the present time it is almost the same color as my background. See the above image.
    Read More
  • clouds,  landscape,  mountains

    New Natural Area

    May 19, 2019

    With every grandparent, parent, sibling, boyfriend or girlfriend in town for graduation I decided to venture off to Arapahoe Bend Natural Area. It was much quieter! A couple years ago this reservoir named Rigden Reservoir did not exist was a mix of open fields and gravel pits. It was a haven for meadowlarks, blackbirds, prairie dogs, rabbits and raptors. I was surprised to find that is another natural area. The City of Fort Collins asked citizens to submit names and Topminnow Natural Area was chosen. They have built a 2.2 mile paved walking loop around the reservoir. So, I walked it and found this scene. I liked the light rain falling along the Front Range and cropped it to give it a more panoramic feel.

    Read More
  • clouds,  landscape,  mountains,  sunsets

    Connected With

    June 23, 2018
    Sunset and all its colors

    Nature always amazes me in it’s creative ways. Each moment is something new, we never see the exact sunset, they’re similar but never exactly. I took probably 50 images of last night’s sunset. I can look through them on my monitor, almost yawning, then stop because one speaks to me in a way the others don’t or I’m in a place to hear that one image. I’m also aware the image I connect with may not be the same one viewers will connect with. So, you’ll have to accept the one I connected with. 

    Read More