• clouds,  landscape,  mountains,  rants,  writing/reading

    Disdain

    September 2, 2018
    Afternoon along County Roads 13 and 96
    Afternoon along County Roads 13 and 96

    Tom will recognize this spot as we visited it while he and Kathy were in Colorado. As I’ve mentioned before I head east of town when the city noise begins to cloud my thinking. It seems that’s happening much more often, too. I took this yesterday afternoon.

    I was disappointed. I stopped at two separate locations where I enjoy taking in the view and the silence. At my first stop someone had dumped a full size couch with two tires on it. They left it half on the road and half in the ditch. No respect! At the second location, where this image was taken, the owners have blocked the turnoff with a half dozen tires. Scattered around were empty booze bottles and trash. I can see why they want to block the turnout. Instead of coming out here to this place in nature and bringing back the peace and serenity it offers, they bring the chaos and disorder of the city and trash it. I can’t even come up with words to describe my disdain for this. My anger is not directed towards the people who trashed both locations but is directed towards our throw away culture. I’m going to need to work through this today. Enjoy the long weekend!

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  • clouds,  landscape,  mountains,  sunsets

    Roofers make a lot of noise.

    June 8, 2018
    Cloud formations along the Colorado Front Range
    Cloud formations along the Colorado Front Range

    It’s a fact: Roofers make a lot of noise. I know this because there is a crew of 20-30 men are replacing the shingles of my condo. Not sure how many nails are being pounded in the roof but “my” quick estimate from the constant noise would be in the billions.  They’ve been at it all week from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm and will continue into next week. Needless to say, I’m not spending much of my day time at home. In fact the parking lot has been rather empty all week. Yesterday afternoon I headed east to the prairie to enjoy the concert put on by my friends the meadowlarks. Love their music! I took my camera with me just because I always do. Never know what scene I may find.

    Will meet up with my oldest daughter, Christine, later this morning for brunch. Enjoy your weekend.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  mountains,  musings,  sunsets,  trees,  writing/reading

    Silence Within

    March 20, 2018

    Solitude at Sunset
    Solitude at Sunset

    I go to this area on regular basis because it’s only about 5-6 miles from my home. Until last night I never paid any attention to this tree. Just to to right of of the image are a group of trees I photograph on a regular basis but not this one. I don’t even remember seeing it before. Anyway it is now on my list of subjects to look for.

    Silence has become an essential part of my life. It’s not just a time to sit and have external quiet. Finding inner quiet has been a process over the past 20 years or so. I found it useful when I worked as a fight attendant. When flying I discovered how to find places of silence. After the chaotic boarding process we would begin pushing away from the gate and begin our taxi to the runway. It’s at this point we take our jump-seats and as we are trained, make a silent review. This silent review entails a walk through our minds all steps we would take in case of an emergency during takeoff. After a silent review I would also use this time to quiet my inner self. This included deep breaths to help silence the mind. There was no silence in that aircraft but I could find the silence within me.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  mountains,  natural areas,  prairie

    Connection to the natural world

    March 15, 2018

    Cloudy afternoon at Cathy Fromme Prairie Area
    Cloudy afternoon at Cathy Fromme Prairie Area

    I needed more time away from the bustle of the city so drove out to the Cathy Fromme Prairie Area for a walk. This short grass prairie was established because of the large prairie dog community and the support it provided for coyotes, raptors and rattlesnakes. This area has never seen a plow so it remains in a pre-settlement state. They built a nice covered observatory allowing visitors to see hawks and eagles. The birds are amazing with my favorite being the Western Meadowlark and its song. A sad part was the city deciding to poison off the prairie dog community due to disease. Never the less its always a place to find a connection to the natural world for me. 

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