• clouds,  landscape,  panorama,  quotes

    …not the way of Tao

    July 5, 2025
    Kryger Reservoir

    To follow the path of Tao does not require extraordinary effort,
    Yet it is easy to be diverted from it.

    Governance and justice are purchased by a relative few,
    As the most powerful in society bathe themselves in disproportionate wealth.
    Poverty, famine, and war point to a corrupt and dishonest system
    maintained by corporate and government collusion.

    Wealth is funneled upward.

    This is known as legal theft.
    It is not the way of Tao.

    Tao Te Ching By Lao Tzu Rendered by: Julian von Bargen, John Braun, Jr., David Warkentin

    This is a 9 image panorama of Kryger Reservoir on the west side of Windsor. This open Space features a 1.5 mile trail that loops around Kyger Reservoir. It is a favorite fishing area for bald eagles. One is perched behind me on large cellular tower as i took these images. I hope you enjoyed your 4th of July.

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  • clouds,  horizons,  landscape,  mountains,  quotes

    Transformed

    June 30, 2025
    Light rain falling in the mountains

    The spirit of the wilderness is solitude. We go alone to meet the divinity within us. The wisdom of the wilderness comes from God interacting through creation to touch our very soul. We emerge from our journey with a new identity grounded in God. Transformed, we discover we have been given back to ourselves.

    Debra Donnelly-Barton

    I have mentioned before on this blog how I go to places where I can touch and be touched by nature; physically, emotionally and spiritually. There is always a shift in my thinking, words and actions when I am able to spend time in the local natural areas, the early mornings of a local park, riding my bicycle on a nature trail, or the solitude of wilderness. When I do, I find a renewed connection to the Creator of this beautiful world we all are a part of and a greater awareness that I’m a part of nature. Her use of the word transformed in the quote is spot on for me. I just ain’t the same when I return home.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  quotes

    Clicked the Shutter

    June 6, 2025
    Storm clouds from this afternoon

    Sometimes I arrive just when God’s ready to have someone click the shutter.

    Ansel Adams

    I clicked the shutter on this image this afternoon after the rain storms had moved on. It looks like sunshine the next four days then more rain. The rain we have had over the past 4 days has sure made things green and after today, my car is a muddy mess. And, I just love this quote! Hope you had a good Friday!

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  • clouds,  landscape,  quotes

    Nature’s Wildness

    June 4, 2025

    All Nature’s wildness tells the same story. Storms of every sort, torrents, earthquakes, cataclysms, ‘convulsions of nature,’ etc., however mysterious and lawless at first sight they may seem, are only harmonious notes in the song of creation, varied expressions of God’s love.

    John Muir
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  • clouds,  landscape,  quotes

    … what really matters

    May 22, 2025
    Ominous clouds at Soapstone Prairie Natural Area

    Just as the Earth has a rhythm, and the seasons do as well, so all of us, I think, profit in leading some sort of rhythmic existence that goes with the flow and keeps pace with the lovebeats of the heart. That’s what everything ultimately reduces to – love is at the core of what really matters.

    Robert Lax

    And, if love is at the core of what really matters then I wonder what would our world look like if people believed that and lived it?

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  • landscape,  mountains,  quotes,  sunsets

    Enjoying this season of my life…

    April 16, 2025

    If your mind isn’t clouded by unnecessary things,
    this is the best season of your life.

    Wu-Men, translated from Chinese by Stephen Mitchell

    The list of unnecessary things my mind can grab onto seems almost infinite. My imagination, dreams, and creativity are gifts when I work to make them reality. However, learning to let go of those that are unnecessary allows me to more fully enjoy this season of my life.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  mountains,  quotes,  reflections,  sunsets

    The Substance of Silence

    April 12, 2025
    Late afternoon at Lake Loveland

    But there is greater comfort in the substance of silence than in the answer to a question.

    Thomas Merton

    When I was younger my friends and I would ride our bicycles to Lake Loveland and fish. Our quest was for crappie and perch that gathered along the trunks of the trees in the water. If memory serves me we would use simple little jigs and it was pretty easy pickings. I have very good memories of those days. And amazingly we did not have smartphones to document it. Nor did mom send us a text message telling us dinner was ready. There seemed to be more silence back then. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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  • landscape,  quotes,  silence,  sunsets,  trees

    Silence is the stuff of life…

    March 11, 2025

    I am constantly surrounded by noise: TV, texts, the internet, music, meaningless small talk, my thinking. All of it blocks my consciousness, my ability to hear the ME that exists beneath the cacophony. I am my consciousness, my awareness of my circumstance, my presence in every moment. So I cultivate silence every morning. I sit in it, bask in it, wrap it around myself, and hear and feel me. Then, wherever the day takes me, the people I meet are the beneficiaries of my having taken that time – they get the real me, not someone shaped and altered by the noise around me. Silence is the stuff of life.

    Richard Wagamese, Embers: One Ojibway’s Meditations
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  • landscape,  quotes,  silence,  sunsets

    Filled with Silence

    March 2, 2025

    We were born with silence, and as we grew up we lost the silence and we were filled with words. We lived in our hearts, and as time passed we moved into our heads. Now the reverse of this journey is enlightenment. It is the journey from the head back to the heart, from words back to silence; getting back to our innocence in spite of our intelligence.

    Eckhart Tolle

    My life is filled with silence. I have not listened to music for many years. And, when people share about their favorite music, musician or movie, I am unable to be a part of the conversation because my life no longer includes that. The music I most enjoy now is the silent sounds of nature. Therefore, I spend a lot of time in the local natural areas. Happy Sunday!

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