• Anime,  Avian,  bicycle rides,  bicycling,  JetPack,  landscape,  Photography,  pond

    … a feeling of mystery

    July 21, 2026
    Edited with Lightroom and enhanced with Jetpack Image Editor

    There is a section along Spring Creek where water backs up creating this calm pond-like area. For me it offers a feeling of mystery when looking into the depth of this area. It is a complete ecosystem teaming with life we cannot see. I ride slowly through this area because of the feeling it offers me and stopped several times for photos. But this morning I stopped and took a few images with the intention of playing with them when I got home using AI. I worked on them in Lightroom then settled on enhancement with the Anime style in WordPress. I added the white egret because last week I saw one feeding in Spring Creek not too far from this scene. I did not stop for a photo because I didn’t want to disturb them. So, I asked Jetpack to add the white egret. I added a frog to the seen but before I knew it the egret had eaten them. So far most of the results I like and post here are using the anime and fantasy styles which create a completely different image from the original and dramatically transforms them. I’m still not sure how I feel about all this stuff but I am getting a kick out of it and finding some creative juices. It’s much cooler today but still warm.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  quotes

    … it’s how we live.

    April 24, 2026

    “…the greatest reward for a creative life is not in what you create, but in how you live. It is in how you train yourself to view and respond to the world and internalize the many experiences and meanings and mysteries that come your way. It is about finding peace and satisfaction in a world rife with cynicism, violence, competition and greed.”

    Guy Tal

    I posted the above quote back on June 11, 2012, about 14 years ago. It spoke to me then and it speaks to me now in my photography, blogging and how I try to live my life. Pursuing a creative path is helping me find peace and satisfaction in a world that is rife with cynicism, violence, competition and greed. One of the things I do to live my life and find peace is spend time in nature. So, I spent some time this afternoon at Pineridge Natural Area. They made some changes on me by removing the bench up near the parking lot and putting in another one right next to the rocks I enjoy sitting on. It’s probably only three feet away from those rocks. It is a big, solid bench and just as hard as the rocks. But it has a back on it. It actually is a much more scenic view than where the previous bench was. That’s one of the reasons I liked sitting on those rocks. I approve of the change. You don’t suppose they put in that bench just for me???

    Anway my sister, Sheree, and I are flying down to Phoenix in the morning to spend a couple days with my sister Marcee and brother-in-law, John. Then we will rent a car and drive back with some of mom and dad’s artwork. So I probably won’t be posting much the rest of the month. Hold down the Fort while I’m gone! I better finish packing.

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  • Avian,  Canada Goose,  fountain pens,  quotes,  sky

    More mystery…

    February 26, 2026

    Please remember that certainty—not doubt—is the opposite of faith. The insistence on certainty reveals a need for control, not a need for love or understanding.

    Richard Rohr

    Holding a perspective of certainty allows some people to justify putting others down because of the attempt to try and strip them of their humanity or believing them to be less than us. But this belief is the ego putting itself on a pedestal and rejecting self-restraint, understanding, compassion, and any willingness to dialogue. This is hate and intolerance. I find it difficult to be around such people because there is almost no openness to sharing ideas with narcissistic people. What can be even more frightening is when we are basing certainty on half truths or even lies. I have come to embrace living in the adventure and mystery of life.

    Needing some time out on the prairie to journal I headed east. Stopped at a favorite spot and I was surrounded by hundreds of Canada Geese. Needless to say I did not find much peace and quiet for journaling but I did enjoy my time. Hundreds of them. Waves of them. Makes you wonder where they came from and where they are headed. More mystery.

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  • Badlands National Park,  landscape,  quotes

    Landscape of Timelessness

    January 25, 2026
    Badlands National Park – 2004

    For us, there is not just this world,
    there’s also a layering of others.
    Time is not divided by minutes and hours,
    and everything has presence and meaning
    within this landscape of timelessness.

    Joy Harjo

    One of the gifts I’ve found from visiting National Parks is the mystery of the time it has taken nature to develop the landscapes we photographers enjoy photographing. I also have always come back changed in some way with the silence and learning to be present with nature. She has much to share with us! And look at those layers of time she is showing. I hope everyone is staying warm, safe and dry!!

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  • Cactus,  Plants,  quotes

    The point is…

    November 25, 2025

    I see that the life of this place is always emerging beyond expectation or prediction or typicality, that it is unique, given to the world minute by minute, only once, never to be repeated. And this is when I see that this life is a miracle, absolutely worth having, absolutely worth saving. We are alive within mystery, by miracle.

    Wendell Berry

    Cactus are adapted at living in very dry environments and because of this show many adaptations to conserve water. The cactus spines prevent cactus from losing water by reducing air flow around the cactus which can help reduce evaporation. The trapped air around the cactus can also create a buffer zone with slightly more moist air. In areas of fog cactus spines can also help collect dew, which will drop onto the dirt near the cactus and be absorbed by the roots. Cactus spines help preserve water by providing a bit of shade. Since a given cactus can easily have thousands of spines, the little bits of shade adds up. One of the most obvious benefits of cactus spines is that they keep predators away. Lots of desert herbivores love chomping on cactus just to get at the water stored inside so the spines can reduce this. The point is they help the plant survive in its harsh environment. And, the point of this post is… life is a miracle and worth saving!

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  • horizons,  landscape,  natural areas,  quotes,  sunrises

    Mystery of This Universe

    August 28, 2025
    Sunrise at 6:26 am this morning

    Just as darkness brings rest and release, so the dawn brings awakening and renewal. In our mediocrity and distraction, we forget that we are privileged to live in a wondrous universe. Each day, the dawn unveils the mystery of this universe. Dawn is the ultimate surprise; it awakens us to the immense “thereness” of nature. The wonderful subtle color of the universe arises to clothe everything.

    John O’Donohue, from Anam Cara

    After prayer and meditation, I drove up to Pineridge Natural Area for sunrise. I found a new and more comfortable rock to sit on and set up my tripod. I loved the scent of the wet grass and sagebrush that surrounded me. I then enjoyed my second period of prayer and meditation this morning. Have a wonderful day!!

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  • landscape,  natural areas,  quotes,  sunrises

    Wonder

    August 27, 2025

    Wonder – that edge state on the rim of understanding, where the mind touches mystery – is our best means of loving the world more deeply.

    Maria Popova

    This is sunrise 3 days ago. This morning we had 61 degrees, 99% humidity and overcast skies so it looks much different today. It made for an invigorating bicycle ride to the coffee shop, but well worth it. Those clouds have burned of slightly, a bit of sunshine is out but rain is expected later today. Yes, the wonder it all!

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  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  sunrises

    filled with mystery…

    July 30, 2025

    I no longer feel that life is ordinary. Everyday life is filled with mystery. The things we know are only a small part of the things we cannot know but can only glimpse. Yet even the smallest of glimpses can sustain us. Mystery seems to have the power to comfort, to offer hope, and to lend meaning in times of loss and pain. In surprising ways it is the mysterious that strengthens us at such times…

    Rachel Naomi Remen

    I changed up my morning routine. I got up early, made my necessary trip to the bathroom, made the bed, made a chai latte then headed up to Pineridge Natural Area for sunrise. As I pulled into the parking lot, I was greeted by two coyotes. I told them I was here to witness and photograph the sunrise and share the quiet of this sacred place with them and they could go ahead and continue their hunting. They turned and scampered up the ridge. After a few minutes of quiet time in my car I moved out to a location where I have another uncomfortable rock to sit on and where I like to take photographs. It was almost the perfect temperature and I loved the refreshing breeze. I enjoyed the singing of the meadowlarks and robins and the clouds were stunning. All of this reminded me of the blessing it is to live where I do and the gift of life. When I returned home, I had my meditation time, then mounted the red steed and rode to Mugs. Adriana made me my Old Town mocha and I enjoyed conversations with Jeff, Curtis, Terri, and Joan. I do not consider my life ordinary in the least but feel it is filled with mystery.

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