My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and the mystery of it all.
“There are only two kinds of people in the world. Those who are alive and those who are afraid.”
Rachel Naomi Remen
Interesting how two maple trees about 50 feet apart can have such different fall colors. The maple tree in the building next to me has red leaves but almost all of them are fringed in brown. I assume due to the drought conditions. While the tree next to my mailbox has rich red colored leaves and almost no brown fringe. I will never understand nature but then that’s the mystery of nature. May I just be alive to her mystery. It is a beautiful day here in Colorado, blue sky and sunshine. However, colder weather is expected over the next few days. Enjoy your weekend!
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.
“…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.
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.
In silence,we discover ourselves, our actual presence to the life in us and around us. When we are present, deeply attentive, we cannot be busy controlling. Instead we become beholders – giving ourselves up to the mystery of things. We become more willing to let things be. And as a consequence we can also let ourselves be.
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!!
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!
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!!
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!
