• landscape,  Plants,  quotes,  reflections,  sunrises,  trees

    Predawn Twilight

    November 16, 2022
    Predawn light at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in 2011

    “The most beautiful thing in the world is, of course, the world itself.”

    Wallace Stevens

    Sun has just set. Weather app says snow will begin after midnight and into tomorrow with 2-6 inches. Road conditions will not be good for commuters tomorrow morning or evening. This image was taken 11 eleven years ago at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. I enjoyed going to this area for morning quiet time and photographs. Because of the reflection on those calm waters I was gifted with two views of this beautiful world that particular morning.

    Read More
  • fall season,  leaves,  Plants,  quotes,  seasons,  Thomas Berry

    Awe and Reverence

    November 12, 2022
    Light, shadows, shapes, patterns, colors of leaves

    There is an awe and reverence due to the stars in the heavens, the sun, and all heavenly bodies; to the seas and the continents; to all living forms of trees and flowers; to the myriad expressions of life in the sea; to the animals of the forests and the birds of the air.

    To wantonly destroy a living species is to silence forever a divine voice. 

    Thomas Berry

    The man made worlds of our homes, work cubicles, television, and phones, cannot fulfill that awe and reverence. Our separation has caused us to see nature apart from us. We no longer hear the divine voice in nature and therefore can and do commit violence against it. All of creation is the divine voice! How many of us stop and just listen to the voice of falling leaves. It was another cold morning in Colorado, 9 degrees at 6:45 am. Sun has set and it will be in the single digits again tonight. Hope you enjoy your day tomorrow!

    Read More
  • lake,  landscape,  mountains,  reflections

    Mary’s Lake

    October 14, 2022

    Our first stop on our Peak to Peak highway drive on Sunday was Mary’s Lake. Hardly any breeze so the lake was smooth as glass. Every plant still in the shade, had a coat of light frost on it. Marys Lake is part of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project. There are 2 dikes on the shoreline of Mary’s Lake, located approximately 2 miles from Estes Park, Colorado. Mary’s Lake serves two primary purposes: it acts as an afterbay for the Mary’s Lake Power Plant, and it helps regulate Colorado-Big Thompson Project water on its way to the Estes Power Plant.  I guess another purpose is to provide beautiful reflections.

    Read More
  • John O'Donohue,  leaves,  Plants,  quotes

    Nature of the Soul

    September 26, 2022

    Love is the nature of the soul.

    John O’Donohue

    Yesterday was my oldest granddaughter, Abbie, and Patton’s wedding. It was absolutely beautiful in so many aspects. They are in their mid twenties and seem very much in love and not just in the fantasy of their minds. They seemed so comfortable, relaxed and excited. A good time was had by all except for those of us who overate. 😂 May they grow in their marriage! I love you two! ❤️ I will be looking forward to seeing the wedding photos.

    Read More
  • landscape,  quotes,  Thomas Berry

    A Living Presence

    September 21, 2022
    The cathedral of the beaver ponds near Cowdrey, Colorado

    The indigenous peoples of this continent tried to teach us the value of the land, but unfortunately we could not understand them, blinded as we were by our dream of manifest destiny. Instead we were scandalized, because they insisted on living simply rather than working industriously. We desired to teach them our ways, never thinking that they could teach us theirs. Although we constantly depended on the peoples living here to guide us in establishing our settlements, we never saw ourselves as entering into a sacred land, a sacred space. We never experienced this land as they did—as a living presence not primarily to be used but to be revered and communed with.

    Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth, Thomas Berry
    Read More
  • National Parks,  quotes,  Yellowstone National Park

    You had to be there!!

    September 3, 2022

    “You can only appreciate nature by feeling and seeing it with the heart and the eyes of a child.”

    Michael Bassey Johnson

    I would not be able to look myself in the mirror if I visited Yellowstone National Park without a photograph of the lower and upper falls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. I got both! Crowds were small at Artists Point due to the time of year. Without crowds I was able to just stand there watching, listening, experiencing the awe and wonder of it all. I took this photograph about 2:00 pm and that’s why the lighting is flat, but I also know any image would fail to express the experience. You had to be there!!! The waterfall captures most people’s attention but the canyon with those precipitous jagged cliffs and that yellow rock cause me stand speechless while listening to the sound of the waterfalls power echo in the canyon. I already wanna go back.

    Read More