• my mornings,  nature,  shadows

    Drawn to Shadows and Lines

    July 22, 2026

    It has threatened to rain most of the afternoon but we’ve received only a few drops. We really need it! However the clouds have definitely cooled things down. We have had rain during the past two nights but again nothing measurable for us. Last night Nature put on an exciting thunder and lightning show. I could see the flashes even with my eyes closed and on a couple of occasions felt the thunder. The above image was taken yesterday morning just before leaving for the coffee shop. I could have just as easily taken it this morning as I saw the same scene. It again shows how easily I am drawn to shadows and lines.

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  • bicycle rides,  bicycling,  clouds,  landscape,  quotes,  sunrises

    The Wonders of Life

    July 16, 2026
    Cumulus clouds at sunrise this morning

    Stopping is an essential part of the spiritual life. If we cannot stop, we cannot see our True Nature. When we stop, we begin to see clearly, and we can appreciate the wonders of life. We can see that there is no separation between ourselves and the world, and we can marvel at the oneness of all things. To be fully present in the moment, we need to stop letting our mind race ahead to the future or dwell in the past. We need to let go of our distractions, our worries, and our busyness.

    Thich Nhat Hanh

    One thing about bicycling is the tendency to be more present to the now and not as much time in my head. So this cloud scene required me to stop this morning and take in the beauty and wonder of nature. And, I wasn’t late to the coffee shop.

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  • bicycle rides,  bicycling,  landscape,  quotes,  sunrises,  trees

    The Gift of Riding

    July 13, 2026
    Edited with Lightroom and Jetpack Image Editor

    “There is beauty in silence and there is silence in beauty and you can find both in a bicycle!”

    Mehmet Murat ildan

    The gift of riding. That’s a simple statement but I think it needs to be expanded on. I had been looking at bicycles because I began having issues with my back when I walked more than 5k steps. This August it will be two years since I purchased my e-bike. From that purchase a new world opened for me and the gifts began appearing. So here are some reasons I consider riding my red steed as a gift. It includes good cardio exercise since it does not bother my back. I do not have to deal with the insanity and congestion of traffic. I spend less money on gas, put fewer miles on my car and I pollute less. I am spending more time in the elements of nature. This was a surprise because the riding puts me in nature rather than being enclosed in a car. To enhance the experience of nature I enjoy taking the Spring Creek Trail, even though it’s a longer ride than across campus. In taking that trail I’m experiencing more of the sounds, sights and smells of nature. While riding I am in the midst of the beauty and the silence of nature. For me it is the gift of a spiritual experience and a wonderful way to start my day.

    I bought the Trek Verve+ 1 bicycle. I did a lot of research into what I wanted before settling on this bike because I felt it met my needs as a Class 1. It has a small rear hub 250W motor with 40NM of torque. That easily gets me up any hills around here. The battery is rated at 250Wh, is integrated in the downtube, and lets me get about 32 miles on a charge. It has a Shimano 8 speed shifter, which has more gears than I need or use. I handed them my credit card after the return of my first test ride!

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  • bicycle rides,  bicycling,  natural areas,  poems,  trees

    Too be like a tree…

    July 7, 2026

    To be a giant and keep quiet about it,
    To stay in one’s own place;
    To stand for the constant presence of process
    And always to seem the same;
    To be steady as a rock and always trembling,
    Having the hard appearance of death
    With the soft, fluent nature of growth,
    One’s Being deceptively armored,
    One’s Becoming deceptively vulnerable;
    To be so tough, and take the light so well,
    Freely providing forbidden knowledge
    Of so many things about heaven and earth
    For which we should otherwise have no word—
    Poems or people are rarely so lovely,
    And even when they have great qualities
    They tend to tell you rather than exemplify
    What they believe themselves to be about,
    While from the moving silence of trees,
    Whether in storm or calm, in leaf and naked,
    Night and day, we draw conclusions of our own,
    Sustaining and unnoticed as our breath
    And perilous also—though there has never been
    A critical tree—about the nature of things.

    Howard Nemerov, The Tree from The Poetry of Presence

    I read this poem yesterday and loved the message it brought to me. I thought I’d share it on this blog and maybe it will touch you, also. I knew immediately which tree I wanted to include with the post. So this morning on my ride to the coffee shop I stopped to take a moment and admire again this wise old cottonwood elder and take a photo of them. The tree is located along Fisher Natural Area and I have several images of it. You can see in the image we are still experiencing the effects of the forest fires. And, they say it will be hot again today.

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  • pond,  reflections,  water

    Reflections

    June 27, 2026

    It’s HOT here in Colorado today. Weather app says 93 degrees. I took this yesterday afternoon because I love the reflection in the almost glass like pond. When it gets this warm and the water in the pond moves every so slowly we get plenty of filamentous algae growing on the pond. It looks rather yucky to me but the carp and suckers love it. Some research says the best way to control this algae is to eliminate fertilizers. I’m all for that! Stay cool and I hope you are enjoying the weekend.

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  • clouds,  horizons,  landscape,  mountains,  nature,  poems

    We never belonged to you…

    June 24, 2026

    The moment when, after many years
    of hard work and a long voyage
    you stand in the centre of your room,
    house, half-acre, square mile, island, country,
    knowing at last how you got there,
    and say, I own this,

    is the same moment when the trees unloose
    their soft arms from around you,
    the birds take back their language,
    the cliffs fissure and collapse,
    the air moves back from you like a wave
    and you can’t breathe.

    No, they whisper. You own nothing.
    You were a visitor, time after time
    climbing the hill, planting the flag, proclaiming.
    We never belonged to you.
    You never found us.
    It was always the other way round.

    Margaret Atwood, The Moment

    Like so many of my images, something called me to stop and press the shutter button. I pulled into the Running Deer Natural Area parking lot and took the image from there. I did not create any of the beauty in this scene, nature did and lovingly shares it with us. Our task is to accept the gift of its presence and beauty with grateful hearts! May we come to realize we belong in this world not as conquerors but as integral parts of it. 

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  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes

    Filled my gratitude bucket…

    June 14, 2026

    “Respond to the call of your gift and the courage to follow its path.”

    John O’Donohue

    We awoke to a light mist that hung around until about 8:30 am. From then on the clouds slowly gave way to blue sky and sunshine, making it a beautiful day. I drove to Pineridge Natural Area about 4:32 pm to journal and listen to the Magpies chatter. The opening blue sky and scattered clouds filled my gratitude bucket. I always seem to feel respect for nature and move into a place of silent prayer. Before I left, a meadowlark sang a simple song for me. I believe it knew I needed one. My day was made complete. I hope you had a good weekend and enjoy your coming week!

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  • butterfly,  insects,  quotes

    Clear Blue Skies

    June 12, 2026

    There is One Holy Book, the sacred manuscript of nature, the only scripture which can enlighten the reader… All scriptures before nature’s manuscript are as little pools of water before the ocean.

    Hazrat Inayat Khan

    It is about 3:26 pm and I have not seen a cloud all day, just clear blue skies. They also turned on the fountain in the holding pond so I am listening to the bubbling of water and birds singing. The weather app says we are at 87 degrees and may reach 90 degrees. I rode the red steed to coffee this morning and found it most enjoyable. I saw a Great Blue Heron fishing for breakfast and two does grazing along the creek. I also see that it’s hot in Concord, Sterling Heights and North Berwick. Please stay cool and enjoy your weekend.

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  • flowers,  insects,  Plants,  quotes

    What is needed for life.

    June 10, 2026

    An organism that is too greedy and takes too much without giving anything in return destroys what it needs for life.

    Peter Wohlleben, The Hidden Life of Trees

    When I read this quote from Wohlleben I instantly thought of the organism as mankind. I doubt if this bee will take more nectar than is necessary. Which then lead to the question, “What would we learn if we were to read and study this book of nature?” It has been a warm sunny day. Spent some time in the park today and listened to the music made by wind and trees. I hope you had a good day!!

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  • coffee life,  quotes,  rain,  street photography

    … and live it!

    May 18, 2026

    “In the face of impossible odds, people who love this country can change it.”

    Barack Obama

    This is looking out my windshield when I pulled up to the coffee shop this morning. I was surprised to see a half dozen people riding bicycles on my way to the coffee shop. They are hardier souls than me! We awoke to overcast skies and this gentle but steady rain, which is nurturing both nature and our souls. I hope they are correct when they say it may rain like this all day. As a beautiful metaphor, I would like to suggest that each raindrop is a symbol of each of us, which in union with other raindrops gives much hope for positive change and nurturing which our world desperately needs. Yes, let’s believe it is possible for us to be the change our world needs and live it!

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