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

    Merry Christmas

    December 25, 2024

    Well, the cookies and milk I left out for Santa were gone when I woke up this morning, always a good sign. However, there was no XF8mm lens under the tree so there must have been a screw up somewhere. They must have not gotten my letter. I didn’t think I was that naughty this past year. However, I’ve lived without that lens so far and will continue to live without it.

    Overcast skies spurred me to drive to Pineridge Natural Area for possible Christmas morning predawn colors. A mix of rain and snow began and added to the feel of the morning’s cold. I showed up and was not disappointed in nature’s gift of colors. The reflection off Dixon Reservoir was breathtaking and almost caused me to miss the Great Horned Owl perched on the tree. I asked if they were watching the predawn colors or looking for prey or both, but only silence? And, silly me forgot to bring the tripod so this is a handheld image taken at 23mm, 1/10 sec at f8.0 and ISO 12800. I have cropped this image and used denoise in Lightroom to clean up the noise. It works well enough for this blog. I started a crockpot of chili soup after my quiet time and its aroma is filling the house. It’s making me hungry. I hope everyone has a wonderful day in whatever way you celebrate it. Thank you to all who regularly stop by for a visit. I love this world!!! ❤️

    “The biggest gift you can give is to be absolutely present, and when you’re worrying about whether you’re hopeful or hopeless or pessimistic or optimistic, who cares? The main thing is that you’re showing up, that you’re here and that you’re finding ever more capacity to love this world because it will not be healed without that. That was what is going to unleash our intelligence and our ingenuity and our solidarity for the healing of our world.”

    Joanna Macy
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  • Avian,  meadowlark,  poems,  poetry

    After the Last Note

    May 24, 2024

    I leave the chaos to enter the sanctuary of nature,
    aware this spiritual life is about our experiences.

    I listen as the meadowlark sings from their heart,
    the wind carrying their notes to all who will listen.

    I learn, after the last note fades into the past,
    to stay present, just as the meadowlark,
    listening to the gift of silence.

    mws

    I saw two extraordinary events yesterday afternoon at Pineridge Natural Area. While scanning the area with my binoculars I watched a large raptor, which I believe was a Golden Eagle, flying straight at me with a prairie dog in their talons. Golden Eagles are common in the area but this was my first sighting of one. Later, while journaling on the bench about the eagle there was an increase of chatter among the magpies just below me. I looked up from writing and see a bobcat. This was the first one I’ve seen in this area even though there are several in the area. I took no photos, just memories that remain in the present! Enjoy your weekend!

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  • landscape,  natural areas,  nature,  quotes,  storm clouds

    Its self and its form are one…

    May 20, 2024
    Ominous clouds and rain at the Trailhead

    The poet wants to drink from the well of origin; to write the poem that has not yet been written. In order to enter this level of originality, the poet must reach beyond the chorus of chattering voices that people the surface of a culture. Furthermore, the poet must reach deeper inward; go deeper than the private hoard of voices down to the root-voice. It is here that individuality has the taste of danger, vitality and vulnerability. Here the creative has the necessity of inevitability; this is the threshold where imagination engages raw, unformed experience. This is the sense you have when you read a true poem. You know it could not be other than it is. Its self and its form are one.

    John O’Donohue

    I felt a bit restless and leaning on the discontent side of things Sunday afternoon. I would say it’s what O’Donohue calls “the private hoard of voices” that sometimes hang out in my head. My solution was some journaling time, a walk at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area and connecting to the poem of nature (I like that phrase). After journaling I decided I better get a walk in before it rained as the wind had picked up and darker clouds slowly moved in. Good timing as It began sprinkling by the time I walked back to the car but it never did rain. I have been fascinated by some wonderful clouds this spring and Sunday was another day for them. I accepted the gift nature offered me and now offer it to you!

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  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes,  sunrises

    What Can’t Be Defined

    April 30, 2024
    Sunrise at about 6:01:13 am

    Despite what dictionaries would have us believe, this world is still mostly undefined.

    John Koenig

    The wind blows from the west, it’s cold penetrating my windbreaker. A small flotilla of pelicans drifts along the reservoir’s shore. I watch the sun quietly rise above the horizon announcing the new day’s arrival. There’s a serenity over the meadow, wrapping itself around me. I hear the song of one lone meadowlark and a couple of chattering magpies who are not lost for words. Yet, I am lost for words in this experience. Expressing how nature affects us seems impossible. Truth be it’s more about the gift of experiencing it, rather than words. Yet, the poet puts words to paper in their attempt to define what they experience and see. The artist also puts brush to canvas in their attempt using visual words. Makes me wonder if the meadowlarks and magpies are just as lost for words but simply doing the best they can. Maybe it’s all about the attempts by poets, artists, magpies and dictionaries to define what can’t be defined. 

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  • Candid Portraits,  coffee life,  musings

    Sunday Smiles

    April 14, 2024

    Smiles… they are the simplest gift we can offer the world. There is an unending supply within each one of us. Each one is unique, no two are alike! They can be repeatedly given throughout our day. They are extremely contagious. They are free with no monetary value placed on them. They are not to be hidden but need/must to be set free, released, given, and received.

    They lift the spirit of both the giver and receiver. They may unknowingly offer healing to anyone who may be silently suffering. They are a sign of our inner joy and happiness, that life is good. And they can be an invitation to return a smile, begin a conversation or make eye contact. They break down all barriers that separate, isolate or reject. They express what words may not be able to say. They enhance our external and internal attractiveness and beauty. And, in my world, smiles are what keep me returning to coffee shops! Seems the world would be at a better place if each of us offered more smiles. We for sure will feel better!!! Thanks to my baristas, Keera and Emma!!

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  • landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes

    Grateful

    April 13, 2024

    “Each person is a special gift of God to the world. His or her life is designed by God to make a difference in how the world is. That influence on the world will come by the person getting in touch with her or his inner life and making a gift of that inner life to others.”

    The Enneagram: A Journey of Self Discovery

    Took this image a couple weeks ago and just now got around to posting it. I do love the blue in Dixon Reservoir and those waves left by the geese.

    I did some study about 25 years ago on the Enneagram and found it interesting as well as helpful. There are several approaches to using it. My purpose was to understand my compulsive behavior and learn how to change those. It runs along the line of the Myer-Briggs personality types. I happened to pick up one of my books this past week and read back through some stuff and thus the quote. I like the idea that a person can make a gift of their inner life to others. The world needs more of that!

    Met my friend Eric for our Saturday morning coffee and conversation. I find it a good way to start my weekend but it is also a good close to our week. The drive is calming when I take the backroads. It is expected to be a warm spring day. Already up to 68 degrees. So, I’ve already had a chai latte, met with Eric, and a Dove’s dark chocolate. Pretty good day so far! I am grateful.

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  • poems,  shadows

    a silent miracle

    April 8, 2024

    dancing sunlight through a window
    unpredictable, playfull, offering delight
    suddenly emerging, spreading its gift
    the eyes see, the heart recognizes
    a silent miracle of the familiar1Inspired by a John O’Donohue Poem

    mws
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