• gratitude,  quotes,  shadows

    Grateful

    January 27, 2026

    Look closely and you will find that people are happy because they are grateful.
    The opposite of gratefulness is just taking everything for granted.

    David Steindl-Rast

    It has been a productive day. I accomplished a few things that had been put on the back burner because of my surgery. So, I’m feeling grateful this evening. As I walked through my bedroom late this afternoon I saw the soft yellow light and shadows from the evenings setting sun. I grabbed my camera and now want to share this simple image with you. I hope you have had a wonderful day, stayed warm and dry and found time to be grateful!

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  • Arapaho Bend Natural Area,  clouds,  horizons,  landscape,  natural areas,  sunsets

    Happy New Year

    January 1, 2026
    My last sunset photo of 2025

    Since I’m no longer a party guy, I celebrated New Year’s Eve by spending time at Arapaho Bend Natural Area to soak into my memory the gift of the sunset. I was back home and in bed by 8pm, reading. My post today is an image of that sunset along with a wish and pray that the coming year be a wonderful adventure, full of awe and wonder, filled with lessons learned, moments of creativity, more time in nature, quality time with family, good health, and the discovery of your true and authentic self. I am grateful for the gift you are. Happy New Year and hope you enjoyed your day!

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  • Holiday Seasons,  quotes

    Constantly living with love…

    December 30, 2025

    Each day brings new opportunities,
    allowing you to constantly live with love—
    be there for others—
    bring a little light into someone’s day.
    Be grateful and live each day to the fullest.

    Roy T. Bennett

    This is a hope I have for all of humanity. But, like love, hope is just another word unless they become an action in our lives. These words come to life and take on meaning when they start with me, constantly living with love.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  snow

    Living Life

    April 19, 2025

    After two days of overcast skies, cold, rain and snow, the skies are clearing. And, the weather app predicts we are going to see warmer weather this coming week. A morning drive out to Reservoir Ridge Natural Area after coffee lifted my spirits. Loved seeing a touch of blue sky peeking out from behind clouds and listening to meadowlarks singing from the meadow. It was a moment to experience real life, cold and all, and grateful to be alive. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

    What is saving my life now is the conviction that there is no spiritual treasure to be found apart from the bodily experiences of human life on earth. My life depends on engaging the most ordinary physical activities with the most exquisite attention I can give them. My life depends on ignoring all touted distinctions between the secular and the sacred, the physical and the spiritual, the body and the soul. What is saving my life now is becoming more fully human, trusting that there is no way to God apart from real life in the real world.

     Barbara Brown Taylor
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  • quotes,  shadows

    … when we glimpse it

    March 3, 2025

    Our religious experience begins and ends with the heart. It begins with the insight that our heart is restless. A world of things can never fully satisfy its restless quest. Only that nothing beyond all things that we call meaning gives us rest when we glimpse it. The quest of the human heart for meaning is the heartbeat of every religion.

    Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer

    When I returned from my bicycle ride to coffee this morning I caught a glimpse of the sunlight coming through my bedroom window. I knew it as a voice telling me there was a photo being offered. Did I want it? Just a glimpse is all it takes for us to see something that’s small and irrelevant at times and now has something simple to offer. I wanted it! Some would call it a spiritual experience. After looking at the quilt I rememberd it was a handmade quilt given to me by my friend, Judith, who died of cancer 17 years ago. Maybe she was behind that voice.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  meditation,  natural areas,  silence,  sunrises

    I am grateful!

    January 28, 2025

    Meditation is the attempt to provide the soul with the proper environment in which to grow and become.

    Morton T. Kelsey

    As the quote suggests I’ve come to believe that starting each morning with a meditation time provides my soul with the proper environment in which to grow and become. But, I also include my time in nature as part of my meditation. The beauty, serenity, and silence of a sunrise and being able to share it, does something to my soul, just as the twenty minutes sitting on a zafu cushion does. And, both of these experiences are the perks in my retirement years and for being an early riser. I am grateful!

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  • fall season,  leaves,  quotes

    Weathering

    December 27, 2024

    When I left the condo this morning it was 36 degrees, clear skies and dry so it was a morning to bicycle to the coffee shop. A bright waning crescent moon hung in the southern darkness. The wind was blowing causing flags on campus to stand erect into the eastern sunrise and also made my bedaling tougher. The lovely Winter was my barista this morning and made me a spicy chai to start my day. A beautiful day is taking shape here in Colorado.

    “This tells me two fundamental truths: one, that in order to evolve and grow, we must be prepared to face the erosive aspects of life. Two, it’s the weathering that creates the finest landscape of our lives, shaping us and defining us over time.”

    Ruth Allen

    There is a knowing within me that I am evolving. The obstacles of life, the weathering, has shaped who I am. And, I would venture to say everything else in the universe. The weathering of my life’s storms is allowing me to experience the inner landscape of my life. Grateful for this time in my life and my inner landscape! Have a wonderful day!!!

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

    No asphalt here…

    March 1, 2024
    Predawn panorama at Pineridge Natural Area

    “The soil under the grass is dreaming of a young forest, and under the pavement the soil is dreaming of grass.”

    Wendell Berry

    I am grateful for the natural areas and the city of Fort Collins for setting aside these areas. They protect nature from those who want to profit from them and destroy the dreams of the soil. Because it was a beautiful day of blue sky and sunshine, I spent some time at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area this afternoon and journaled. I thought about people who know nothing but the asphalt, concrete and noise of big cities. For them to be present to the silence of the sunrise above or to look out over a vast horizon, could be startling if not frightening to them. So, this evening I’m aware of how lucky, blessed, and grateful I am to have these sanctuaries to experience. I will end with words written in my journal today: No asphalt here…

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  • Canada Goose,  gratitude,  Humor,  winter scenes

    Sleeping-in

    January 15, 2024

    At 6:37 am my weather app said it was 0°, wind was out of the north at 11 mph, humidity was at 83%, wind chill at −17° and light snow was falling. Later at 7:13 am I was enjoying a mocha latte at Mugs and had to snicker at the insane individuals who would be out in this weather, unless they were my barista or the city snowplow driver. Told my baristas, Emma and Jess, that I needed to have a conversation with McCabe and Marlie (the owners) about paying them double-time for working on days like this. They thought it was a great idea! When I got home I noticed the geese were sleeping in late so I quietly took three images. They looked so comfortable I didn’t want to wake them. Now at my computer, slippers on, furnace running, sipping on a hot chai tea and have a grateful heart! ❤️ Going to be a day for reading and writing. Looks like most of the country is cold today so stay warm!!!

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