• bicycling,  fall season,  leaves,  quotes,  seasons

    Nature’s Tapestry

    In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.

    John Muir

    I can just as easily replace the word walk in this quote with bicycle ride. As I rode through this one area I noticed a scene that I noticed a scene I wanted to photograph. I took several images but was not satisfied with any of them. I turned to get back on the bike and noticed this scene. It is a busy image but the colors, eclectic shapes and patterns caused me to squat down beside the water and accept the image. Because I took the time to stop and squat a woman walking by also stopped to see what I was seeing. She thanked me and we both smiled as we received nature’s tapestry. Taken on my bicycle ride yesterday along Spring Creek Trail.

  • leaves,  quotes

    Godful

    But now I’ll have to go, for there is nothing to spare in the way of provisions. I’ll surely be back, however, surely I’ll be back. No other place has ever so overwhelmingly attracted me as this hospitable, Godful wilderness.

    John Muir

    I discovered a new word in some of John Muir’s writings, called “Godful.” At first I thought it was a play on the word grateful but then realized it’s his way of expressing the presence of God in all of nature. Some people may say these brown, orange and red leaves are dying with the autumn frost but I’m not so sure. Just maybe, as I’ve heard it said, they are just flowing through the current of life and those wonderful colors are a way of expressing their excitement in the new phase of life? Maybe the colors express Joy? Happiness? Could their colors and the frost be the expression of that word “Godful?” Well, I have no factual answer to any of those questions and a thousand other questions like them. However, as I experience and see the divine presence in nature I am drawn more and more to the idea of nature expressing itself to us. “Godful” I like that word.

    We have blue skies, sunshine and it’s cold. 🥶 Stay warm if it’s cold where you are and have a wonderful day! If there is a stupid rule that you can’t have a piece of chocolate cake before noon, I just broke it. 😂

  • clouds,  landscape,  quotes,  reflections,  sunsets

    Need for Beauty

    Sunset at Rigden Reservoir

    “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.”

    John Muir

    Drove to the Arapaho Bend Natural Area. Sun had just set. No wind. A subtle pink color in the clouds to the north. Walked to the edge of the reservoir and setup my tripod. Waited and watched. I was given the gift of this moment. Just what I needed. Beauty does that.