My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, spirituality and asking deep questions.
After quiet time, prayer and meditation,
I made a french press of coffee, Heaven’s Blend
by name, then moved outside to sit in the sun.
In the warmth I read from Rilke’s Book of Hours,
and journaled thoughts. I focused on listening to
the sounds of nature, birds, wind, as their words
seem to soothe, heal and nurture me with a balm
rather than the pain brought on by the world’s news.
I think Gratitude is the word for this day.
Before going to bed last night I decided I would go to Cups Coffee this morning and buy a latte. I ache inside for the small businesses struggling to stay in business so it was my way of supporting them. When I bought some food supplies yesterday I noticed they were open. They now have the shop completely quarantined, primarily taking call in orders only. I was able to step inside the front door, order my drink then step outside and wait for them bring it outside. That’s when this image was seen. Drink for the day was a matcha latte with lavender syrup. Much prefer honey rather than the lavender. I heard a new for many of us yesterday, we’re now called quarantiners. And, yes, Websters has that name in their dictionary. 🙂
I started working on a photography book well over a year ago where I intended to include excerpts from my journals along with some of my favorite images, primarily to leave for my children and grandchildren. About three months ago I read what I’d written, thought it was sh*t, told myself I’m not a writer and put it down. Well, this quarantine time beckoned me to look at what I could do with the writing. I’m not sure what but something happened. A clear mind maybe, but it began morphing into a style of writing I’m not used to. I’ve read several names and styles of writing called prose, poetry, haiku, poetic prose, poetic journals, and a bunch more. Anyway, I’m having fun with it. My last post had my feeble, and first, attempt to write in some form of poetic prose on this site.
We still have snow on the ground and expecting more snow tonight and tomorrow. We are already seeing a few snowflakes falling as I post this. The sunrise was a beautiful red as I started out the door. It does not last long as this was only a minute or two later. Thinking about all of you on the east coast as it looks like nasty stuff your way.
“Wisdom is knowledge deepened by love. The wise person knows more deeply by way of love than by way of argument because the eye of the heart can see the truth of reality. Hence the wise person is one who knows and sees God shining through everything, even what seems ugly or despised.” Ilia Delio
They are predicting snow for us beginning tonight or tomorrow and into Tuesday morning. Seems strange as we are at 71 degrees today. Anyway, I need to prepare for the cold and snow like my dad does, “… stock up on the chocolate and peanut butter and everything will be okay.” Done! As long as I’m stocked then I’ll take the beauty of a snowfall but let’s keep it under 3 inches.
This image was taken this morning as I walked to the bus stop. It is a wet area along Spring Creek with cattails and tall grass. It is located behind the Walgreens and some apartments. When I first moved here almost 20 years ago I would see foxes, raccoons, deer and lots of birds in this area but not any more. We have disturbed them enough that they’ve moved to other areas.
I had my annual physical this morning. It was a year ago this month that I had my heart surgery and things seem to be fine. Doctor gave me a thumbs up on my blood work and my heart sounds good. His only suggestion for improvement was to lose some weight. The thing is I knew he was going to say that because he’s right. More walking and less sugars seems to be the suggested remedies. I knew that, too! I suppose that means no more chocolate eclairs. Sigh!
My sister and I are flying to Phoenix next Tuesday to spend Thanksgiving with my parents. Mom just turned 88 and dad will be 91 in January. They still live alone but we do see the decline in activity. We have been doing this for the past 5-6 years. We are enjoying as much time with them as we can.
Yes, I’ve been playing around with Lightroom on some images from the past, adjusting colors and any other slider I can find. I’ve been asking myself, “Well what does this one do?” and then see what happens. When it’s an ooops, I type command Z to get back to where I was and try the next one. I feel a bit like a kid.