• horizons,  landscape,  natural areas,  quotes,  sunrises

    Mystery of This Universe

    August 28, 2025
    Sunrise at 6:26 am this morning

    Just as darkness brings rest and release, so the dawn brings awakening and renewal. In our mediocrity and distraction, we forget that we are privileged to live in a wondrous universe. Each day, the dawn unveils the mystery of this universe. Dawn is the ultimate surprise; it awakens us to the immense “thereness” of nature. The wonderful subtle color of the universe arises to clothe everything.

    John O’Donohue, from Anam Cara

    After prayer and meditation, I drove up to Pineridge Natural Area for sunrise. I found a new and more comfortable rock to sit on and set up my tripod. I loved the scent of the wet grass and sagebrush that surrounded me. I then enjoyed my second period of prayer and meditation this morning. Have a wonderful day!!

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  • campus,  clouds,  landscape,  quotes,  sunrises

    To be an inner artist…

    August 24, 2025

    Each one of us is doomed and privileged to be an inner artist
    who carries and shapes a unique world.

    John O’Donohue

    Jeff and I both noticed our bicycle ride to coffee felt like fall this morning. I have been getting up 15 minutes earlier than I usually do and checking to see if the eastern sky looks promising. It did this morning so I drove up to Pineridge Natural Area. My morning there was a calm, serene place and time. Just what I needed. And, I spent time journaling which helps shape my unique inner world as an artist. I did return home with a couple of images I liked. I’m noticing there are fewer birds in the natural areas as some head south. As I wrote that, I comically wondered if maybe the birds know the students are back in town and that’s why they are headed south. The noise level and traffic definitely increases when they arrive! Anyway this was a scene on campus this morning while riding to Mugs at CSU. I hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

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  • Plants,  quotes

    God’s sense of beauty…

    June 5, 2025

    Nature is the direct expression of the divine imagination.
    It is the most intimate reflection of God’s sense of beauty.

    John O’Donohue

    I’m outside on my porch in my blue Adirondack chair typing this post while sipping on a spicy chai latte. It’s about 10:19 am. The constantly changing canvas above me is an overcast sky with patches of azure blue. Trees are motionless and allows other sounds to dominate. So, I enjoy hearing a robin sing it’s heart out. A couple of flickers chat back in forth. I watch the three baby squirrels romp around the elm tree in a game of tag. A cottontail dashes past me to hide in the juniper bush. A group of Canada Geese lay around the edge of the pond, necks bent over their back, sleeping with one eye open. It is peaceful and serene! My weather app says we could see more rain this afternoon around three o’clock. In the meantime I partake of God’s sense of beauty and imagination that I am a part of. And now it’s time to push the publish button. I hope you have a wonderful day!

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  • landscape,  mountains,  natural areas,  quotes,  silence

    Art of Presence

    January 20, 2025

    Prayer is the art of presence. Where there is no wonder there is little depth of presence.

    John O’Donohue

    I stood in wonder this morning at the scene before me. A silence surrounded me. With almost no wind I became aware of the stillness, the beauty, and the penetrating cold. I felt alive. There was a voice inside reminding me that I was an integral part of this world. And, my presence in this world is to love all of creation, to be anchored in justice and compassion, to accept our interconnectedness with all things, to listen and observe our natural world as a teacher, and that living life, being present with all its ups and downs, is a spiritual experience. So, if prayer is the art of presence, then I wish to practice this art of presence until my heart beats for the final time! I guess you can say even that is a prayer.

    If you enlarge this image of the frigid morning at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area you can faintly see the setting of the waning gibbous moon just to the right of center. Stay warm, be safe and pray.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  quotes,  sunsets

    Beauty

    January 15, 2025
    Colorado sunset at Arapaho Bend Natural Area – January 2025

    The human soul is hungry for beauty; we seek it everywhere – in landscape, music, art, clothes, furniture, gardening, companionship, love, religion and in ourselves. No-one would desire not to be beautiful. When we experience the Beautiful, there is a sense of homecoming. Some of our most wonderful memories are of beautiful places where we felt immediately at home. We feel most alive in the presence of the Beautiful for it meets the needs of our soul.

    John O’Donohue

    They say the perception of beauty is subjective – people can have differing opinions on what is beautiful. So what one person perceives as beautiful might be ordinary or unappealing to another. I would also add that perception changes as we change. The beauty I see today is different than what I saw 10, 20, 30 years ago. It’s a gift to see beauty in so many things but what sets Beauty apart for me is the experience of being present to it! And, in many ways feeding my soul.

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  • clouds,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes

    A Journey of Discovery

    January 14, 2025
    Predawn sky at Pineridge Natural Area

    When you regain a sense of your life as a journey of discovery, you return to rhythm with yourself. When you take the time to travel with reverence, a richer life unfolds before you. Moments of beauty begin to braid your days.

    John O’Donohue

    As I parked the car at Pineridge Natural Area this morning, I realized I was moving in autopilot mode. I only took two photos then headed to the coffee shop. Any inspiration to be there was lacking. I know one reason was the cold. Another reason was because my chattering mind kept me from being present to any journey of discovery or reverence. That’s not my norm. The above quote has been sitting in waiting for the right time to be posted and this seems to be the day. This morning there was almost no reverence of my presence to myself or the natural world I am a part of. As I have journeyed through the day, and that is what each day is for, a sense of peace and reverence has settled in and I am grateful for my life! I hope you had a good day and stay warm!

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  • coffee life,  People/Portraits,  quotes

    Top of my Gratitude List

    January 13, 2025
    Adriana and Emma

    May the light of your soul guide you; May the light of your soul bless the work you do with the secret love and warmth of your heart; May you see in what you do the beauty of your own soul; May the sacredness of your work bring healing, light and renewal to those who work with you and to those who see and receive your work; May your work never weary you; May it release within you wellsprings of refreshment, inspiration and excitement…

    John O’Donohue

    My coffee life this morning had a special perk to it. I was pleased to see Emma at the coffee shop when I arrived. Let me tell you about it. So Adriana, in the background, is one of the current baristas, a full time student at CSU and a manager at Mugs. Emma, in the foreground, worked at Mugs for many years while a student at CSU. She now lives in Massachusetts after graduation and is in town for a visit. These two were roommates for several years and two of the most beautiful people on the earth. They both have made a lot of my mornings better by their presence, offering their smiles, their morning greetings and making my mocha lattes. My life has been enriched because of the gifts they are and I believe the world is richer because of their presence. Even though I am much older, they inspire me through the lives they live! I also consider them adopted granddaughters. They are at the top of my gratitude list! Even though I knew Emma was going to be here, it was still a wonderful surprise to see her. I’m still smiling!

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  • landscape,  natural areas,  poems,  reflections,  sunrises

    Quiet Sunrise

    November 14, 2024
    Sunrise at Arapaho Bend Natural Area – 2021

    It is a wonderful day in our life
    when one is finally able to stand
    before the long, deep mirror of one’s own reflection
    and view oneself
    with appreciation, acceptance and forgiveness.

    On that day
    one breaks through the falsity of images and expectations
    which have blinded one’s spirit.

    One can only learn to see who one is
    when one learns to view oneself
    with the most intimate and forgiving
    compassion.

    John O’Donohue
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  • Plants,  quotes,  trees

    Stillness and Quiet

    October 4, 2024

    Time and again, we miss out on the great treasures in our lives because we are so restless. In our minds we are always elsewhere. We are seldom in a place where we stand and in the time that is now.

    John O’Donohue

    We can discover in the latter years of our life that moments of stillness and quiet can be great friends. If we embrace these friends we can experience less restlessness and spend less time caught up in our heads, a sometimes formidable neighborhood. The less time in our heads the less likely we are to miss out on some part of the journey through life. When I can stand in the now, I can receive the great treasure of a starburst.

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  • coffee life,  quotes,  shadows

    A Divine Masterpiece

    September 21, 2024
    Meg’s shadow at the coffee shop

    Behind each face there is a unique world that no one else can see. This is the mystery of individuality. The shape of each soul is different. No one else feels your life the way you do. No one else sees or hears the world as you do. The creation of the individual is a divine masterpiece.

    John O’Donohue
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