• coffee life,  coffee shops,  Humor,  latte art

    Wiser and Handsomer

    June 27, 2023

    Made a visit to the Bean Cycle coffee shop this morning. I am not sure the last time I was there but it has been a long time. I patronize a couple other coffee shops that have a more appealing ambiance and are less expensive. However, I felt at home when I walked in and was greeted by a barista I did not know. Always good to meet a new face. She did a good job with my mocha.

    Today I add another number to my accumulations of birthdays, which means I probably am getting wiser and handsomer. 😂 On a serious note, I awoke after a good night’s sleep, had quiet time then the visit to the coffee shop. I will have Thai lunch with my youngest daughter (maybe both of them) later today. Hope you have a great day!

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  • coffee life,  coffee shops,  quotes

    Light is our paint brush

    May 19, 2023

    The greatest tool at our command is the very thing that is photography. Light. Light is our paint brush and it is a most willing tool in the hands of the one who studies it with a sufficient care.

    Laura Gilpin

    Sometimes it all comes together and sometimes it don’t. Maybe the latte art is almost perfect and maybe the latte taste is almost perfect. But maybe the two coming together is what makes it perfect. It is overcast this morning with low clouds and high humidity so a latte is the main focus for this Friday.

    In reference to the quote, I do know after a fews years exploring photography, taking a lot of lousy photos, even disgusting photos, that light is so important to my photography. I know that today would be a great day for portraits with all this diffused light. Sure not a morning for a bright shiny sunrise.

    Have a celebration of life for a friend tomorrow who died a week ago at way too young of an age. She had a difficult life and I will miss her. May you have a wonderful weekend and find some good light to paint with! 🤗

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  • Art,  clouds,  coffee life,  coffee shops,  fountain pens,  journal,  landscape,  latte art,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes,  sunrises

    Then we can be here

    April 27, 2023
    I was present here…
    … now I am present here.

    When we become quiet, less filled with ourselves, the incessant noise of our thoughts and feelings then we can embrace the here and now (or there), open to seeing the Divine in all of creation. Which is the only place we can be. 1These words are mine based on a writing by Richard Rohr. “All we can do is become quieter, smaller, and less filled with our own self and our constant flurry of ideas and feelings. Then God will be obvious in the very now of things, and in the simplicity of things. To sum it all up, we can never get there, we can only be there.”

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

    Showing up…

    March 1, 2023

    “When we show up to make art, we need to get still enough to hear what wants to be expressed through us, and then we need to step out of the way and let it. We must be willing to abide in a space of not knowing before we can settle into knowing.”

    Mirabai Starr

    They are predicting snow by midday so I made my way to Pineridge Natural Area in hopes of predawn red skies. I bundled up, made myself a chai and headed up there. We just never know what will be given. Thankfully nature provided the scene, the colors, the clouds, the cold, the wind and I showed up to be a part of it. I bracketed this shot and chose the image that was underexposed by one stop to draw out the colors in the sky. Now sitting at Starry Night enjoying a mocha latte made by Douglas to add to this day. Hope everyone has a great day! It’s starting out beautiful here!

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  • coffee life,  coffee shops

    We Have a Decision

    February 25, 2023

    As I walked into Starry Night Espresso Cafe this morning I realized I was the only male among about 10 women. I could tell there were some good conversations all around me, the din was up and a few hands were waving in the air in an attempt to help in each conversation. I had to ask Chelsea if I was allowed in there or was it a girls only Saturday. She laughed then made up this mocha latte for me showing her skill in latte art. By the time I left an hour and a half later there was standing room only. Don’t know that I’ve seen it that busy as the baristas were bustin butt making drinks and food. When I return from that busy morning at the coffee shop there was an added sense of quiet and appreciation in my condo.

    Had my meeting with the TAVR surgeon on Friday and we will be doing a VIV TAVR procedure on March 14th. This will be a less invasive option to open heart surgery where they will insert a catheter in my artery at my groin up to my heart then expand the new valve inside the valve installed four years ago. Glad I have a decision made and consensus that we all agree on.

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  • coffee life,  coffee shops,  quotes

    Asking questions….

    November 21, 2022
    Latte Art

    Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.

    Henry David Thoreau

    I read this past week that we are ‘God’s work of art.’ That is a wonderful concept and I believe there is a lot of truth in that statement. So, it brought up some questions for me to ponder and journal about. What if we are born as a blank canvas and our life’s task is to become a finished unique work of art? What if we are to express our uniqueness through how we live life, how we treat others and all of creation. What if we use our gifts and talents believing we can turn the world around? What if we need to be in union with the creator of life to become that work of art? What if everyone believed our life is a work of art and then lived it to the fullest? I’m asking questions…

    Sun has set and the cold moves in. Hope you had a great Monday!

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