• bicycle rides,  bicycling,  coffee life,  landscape,  sunrises

    Bacon Toast

    July 4, 2026
    Bacon Toast
    Spring Creek this morning

    I treated myself to something new this morning at Mugs, called Bacon Toast. It is bacon, avocado, sprouts, feta cheese and drizzled with balsamic glaze over sourdough toast. It was well worth my money. My day has been quiet. After my ride to the coffee shop and time with the community I celebrate there, I made sure I ate a couple hot dogs with chips and a piece of peach pie. It wouldn’t be the 4th without the hot dogs! Not the healthiest eating day for me but… I hope you enjoyed your celebration of our 250th anniversary.

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  • flutes,  fountain pens,  journal,  quotes

    Practice

    June 25, 2026
    This is a Jon Norris flute in the key of G# made from Ambrosia Maple. I love the wood grain in it.

    Practice is an important word in my life, but that was not always the case when I was younger. I didn’t want to mess with almost anything that would require practice. Guitar lessons and math homework quickly come to mind. However, over time my view of practice has changed and I find it a necessary and important way of living life. I practice a way of life that includes periods of silence, solitude and time in nature. My practice also includes photography, journaling, being present to life rather than living in my head, learning to listen and yes, it includes learning patience. And recently it has included learning to play the Native American Flute.

    We had thunder during the night and received a small amount of rain during the night. A drizzle hung around until 9 am then intermittent blue skies and clouds with more rain possible later this evening. I hope you enjoyed your day and enjoy your evening!

    “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Practice reduces the imperfection.”

    Toba Beta, Master of Stupidity
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  • coffee life,  fountain pens,  journal,  quotes

    Keeping a journal…

    June 19, 2026

    Keeping a journal has taught me that there is not so much new in your life as you sometimes think. When you re-read your journal you find out that your latest discovery is something you already found out five years ago. Still, it is true that one penetrates deeper and deeper into the same ideas and the same experiences.

    Thomas Merton

    When I journal I write about my thoughts, questions, dreams, fears, and journal about what I see around me in this world. But I also journal because I believe there are words to discover within these fountain pens when I penetrate deep enough. So I am learning to not spend time trying to analyze or criticize what I write. I just write them down in my journal because they may be seeds for other ideas to write about and I desire those seeds. Journaling is a gift to and for me. And, yes, I do reread them to see what I have relearned. May you enjoy your weekend!

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  • fountain pens,  journal,  musings

    … and the list goes on.

    May 15, 2026

    “His decision to live small made him larger than life.”

    Allen Levi, Theo of Golden
    Brown Marbled Pelikan M200 and my journal

    I have noticed that most of my friends no longer talk about how much fun they had at the dance last night. Instead, there’s more talk about doctor appointments, and upcoming tests, new medications we’re taking, or how they detest the prepping for a colonoscopy, or going to rehab 3 days a week because of a knee replacement, hip replacement, shoulder replacement, heart surgery, back surgery, and the list goes on. I’ll leave you with that list and move to another list that includes blue skies, sunshine, robins singing, and I’m seeing new goose poop machines everywhere. It is perfect weather for the CSU graduations that are going on all weekend. And, probably a wise decision to stay away from campus all weekend! Time to push publish.

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  • coffee life,  fountain pens,  journal,  poetry

    The gift of the poet…

    March 25, 2026

    a poet drinks from the
    well of the people, and
    then gives it back to
    them in a way that may
    help them understand
    themselves and the
    world even better

    Garcia Lorca

    Reading poetry is something new for me, coming in the latter stages of my life, and I must say enjoyable. I have found poetry that helps me understand myself and the world around me. I am drawn to poets who are connected to nature, creation and speak to me about their spiritual life. But there are poets I just do not understand. Yet, I know there are people who connect to them while not with the poets I connect with. I have come to agree with Lorca that in the short period of time I have been reading poetry I have come to believe that poets help us understand ourselves and the world better. I also believe that people can and need to drink from the well of the poet. I therefore see poets as a gift! 

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  • coffee life,  musings

    An Hour at the Library

    March 10, 2026
    Cortado at Mugs this morning

    I spent an hour at the Harmony Library this afternoon. It has been a cold day so the library sounded inviting. I was a librarian my senior year in high school to pickup a credit or two. As I reflected I realized that working in the library today is much different than in 1968. Back then nothing was digital. The old card file system worked just fine and an ink can with an ink soaked sponge and a rubber stamp. Interestingly I watched as librarians helped people with the many desktop computers that they have everywhere. So a librarian needs to be tech savvy now a days. They also have a media center where people can print papers, articles and assignments. My media center back then was a notebook and pencil. As I sat and journaled with my fountain pen, I noticed a crackling and rustling sound as a woman sitting near me turned the pages of a newspaper. Now that’s a sound I don’t hear much any more. I also watched several people carrying stacks of 3-6 books to check out, which means there are still people who read books rather than watch television.

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