• clouds,  haiku,  landscape,  sunrises,  writing/reading

    What My Soul Needs

    horizon of colors
    with quiet and solitude
    pre-dawn on the farm

    ms

    I am blessed to have the natural areas so close and with easy access. Yet, this morning I felt the desire to drive eastward, into Weld County. For I can also experience the quiet and solitude my soul needs out here. Taken this morning near Weld County Road 15 and County Road 78. And, I talked myself into stopping at the Bean Cycle on the way back into town for a mocha latte to bring home. This retirement life is pretty exciting!

  • Camera Equipment,  Fujifilm X-T3,  Fujifilm XF16-80mm f4.0,  haiku,  landscape,  natural areas,  Photography,  Software,  sunrises,  writing/reading

    Gift of a New Day

    angel blue sky
    sun kissing the horizon
    gift of a new day

    ms

    I’m hoping you are not getting tired of seeing these sunrise images from Pineridge Natural Area. Took this one a week ago. I shoot raw so all my images are in a 3:2 format. Almost everything I post is cropped to a 16:9 format, especially if it’s a landscape. I seem to be drawn to it. I therefore find myself framing my images with knowledge that I will probably crop the image when processing.

  • cattails,  haiku,  John O'Donohue,  natural areas,  Plants,  trees,  writing/reading

    Along the Trail

    along the trail
    cattails aflame in sunlight
    field of candles

    ms

    John O’Donohue in his book Beauty asks a couple of questions about landscape that cause me to smile, to pause and wonder. He asks the following questions: “Could it be possible that landscape might have a deep friendship with us? That it could sense our presence and feel the care we extend it?” These questions may never enter the minds of some, especially for those who ravage the landscape for profit. To them landscape is an object to consume that has no reasoning, intelligence as we do. These questions may seem like a waste of time because our ego has convinced us into believing we are the ultimate of all creation, and for many are playing god themselves.

    I have not always believed in having a friendship with the landscape as something more than an object. Maturity, drawing closer to the end of life, and experiencing the landscape with more than my physical senses has brought on this change. Sharing in this friendship with the landscape is the reason I have spent more time within it. I want to protect, respect and care for this friend of ours. I like how O’Donohue is asking us to be open, moving beyond our finite thinking. How different would our world be if we treated the landscape as our friend that wants to be our friend?

  • Avian,  Canada Goose,  haiku,  landscape,  sunrises,  writing/reading

    words rising

    inhale deep breaths
    journal and pen in hand
    words rising within

    ms

    It was 17 degrees at 7:33 am when I took this image. I was bundled up while the geese, well, they seemed to be singing a song of joy while drifting in frigid water or sleeping on thin ice. Pure insanity to us humans! After taking this image, I headed to Pineridge Natural area to bask in the sun’s bright warmth and journal. Picked up a mocha on the way so it took me about 25 minutes to arrive at the natural area parking lot. It had already warmed up to 18 degrees. Not toasty yet but an increase nonetheless. Some will think I’m insane for starting my day this way but both the geese and I say to heck with them. I enjoy these gifts of silence, the clear blue skies and the warm sun shining on me. To make it complete, when I got home I enjoyed a rather dry day old donut. 😁Do I know how to live or what?