• clouds,  landscape,  quotes,  snow,  sunsets,  trees,  winter scenes

    My Wishes for You…

    December 25, 2023

    When we live as if everything is sacred, which it is if you really think about it, we relate to the things in our environment in a much more responsible way.

    Jane Reichhold

    Not sure I can adequately list all that I wish for you but here is a short one… Wishing you oodles of joy, happiness, peace, good health, Dove’s chocolates, the miraculous gifts of each new day (sunrises, sunsets, rainbows, butterflies), a heart bursting with love and hope, a heart of gratitude, family times, new adventures, DQ Blizzards (at least the small size), the gift of the songbirds morning canticle, innumerable hugs, moments of silence and stillness, listening to your inner voice or the sound of the wind or the quiet voice of silence, more time with nature, a book or poem that nurtures your heart and soul, the lyrics of a new or an old song that touches you at some new and deep level, new friends, times of quiet prayer and meditation, and to live as if everything is sacred!!! ❤️

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  • landscape,  mountains,  natural areas,  Reservoir Ridge Natural Area,  sunsets

    Routines and Habits

    January 13, 2023

    I have not had much energy or motivation the past 3 weeks. The infection, anemia and the weak heart have slowed me down. I feel like I need to move more even though I may not feel like it nor have the energy. Laying around is not good for my physical and emotional well-being. I ate a small late lunch of Mugs Classic Mac and Cheese yesterday afternoon then drove to Reservoir Ridge Natural Area to watch the sun set. Most of the natural areas are closed due to wet and muddy conditions. I chose this location because there are good opportunities just outside the gate. I’m feeling the need to get back into routines and habits that nurture me and which I feel help in my healing. Not only that but these moments with nature always provide and remind me of the awe and wonder of this world. Creation at work every moment of the day. Happy Friday the 13th!

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  • landscape,  Plants,  quotes,  seasons,  snow,  trees,  winter scenes,  writing/reading

    Learning to Be a Listener

    December 15, 2021
    A gentle snow storm at Arapaho Bend Natural Area in 2014

    Generous listening is powered by curiosity, a virtue we can invite and nurture in ourselves to render it instinctive. It involves a kind of vulnerability – a willingness to be surprised, to let go of assumptions and take in ambiguity. The listener wants to understand the humanity behind the words of the other, and patiently summons one’s own best self and one’s own best words and questions.

    Krista Tippett, Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living

    Over the years I’ve discovered how poorly I listen. Some of the discovery is from encountering people who are poor listeners, enabling me to see the reflection of myself in them. Becoming a better listener allows me to be the student rather than thinking I need to mansplain it. I agree with Krista that listening is a virtue we can invite and nurture and overtime becomes instinctual. It seems to me listening is the very foundation to any healthy relationship with another human and all of creation. With that in mind, my curiosity begs to ask the question, what do we learn when listening to the silence of a winter snowfall?

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  • landscape,  natural areas,  Plants,  trees

    Much more nurturing

    May 22, 2020

    Morning sunburst through the trees at Red Fox Meadows

    My mornings are a restless time for me. Once I’m up I have my quiet meditation time, my own form of prayer and read from an assortment of different books, then make coffee. But for years there is some part of me that feels like I need to go somewhere. Coffee shops filled that restlessness for many years. Now that those shops are not available my pattern has shifted to more time at the natural areas near me. Some I walk to and some I drive to. I find these to be a calming and peaceful moment and know them to be much more nurturing for my soul than the coffee shops.

    Red Fox Meadows is easy walking distance for me. It has a stream that runs through it, open meadows and a couple of small groves of trees. In one of the groves of trees is a mound of grass that I will sit upon to read and journal. This image is from inside the grove of trees and taken about 10:00 am.

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  • landscape,  quotes

    Attitude Adjustment

    May 21, 2009

     

    A Place to Relax
    A Place to Nurture Our Lives

    “The basic thing is that everyone wants happiness, no one wants suffering. And happiness mainly comes from our own attitude, rather than from external factors. If your own mental attitude is correct, even if you remain in a hostile atmosphere, you feel happy.” The Dalai Lama

    For some finding places where we can be near nature will nurture our attitudes. It is comforting to me to know we have places in our cities where we can find nature. I use them. Hopefully each of us have those places for our attitude adjustments.

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