• Documentary/Street,  landscape,  quotes,  sunrises

    Wise words….

    January 13, 2022
    Arapaho Bend Natural Area

    “You are a light. You are the light. Never let anyone—any person or any force—dampen, dim or diminish your light. Study the path of others to make your way easier and more abundant. Lean toward the whispers of your own heart, discover the universal truth, and follow its dictates. […] Release the need to hate, to harbor division, and the enticement of revenge. Release all bitterness. Hold only love, only peace in your heart, knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won. Choose confrontation wisely, but when it is your time don’t be afraid to stand up, speak up, and speak out against injustice. And if you follow your truth down the road to peace and the affirmation of love, if you shine like a beacon for all to see, then the poetry of all the great dreamers and philosophers is yours to manifest in a nation, a world community, and a Beloved Community that is finally at peace with itself.”

    John Lewis
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  • Arapaho Bend Natural Area,  clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  quotes,  storm clouds

    The Beauty

    December 22, 2021
    Riverbend Ponds about 3 weeks ago

    All that we are looking for in life—all the happiness, contentment, and peace of mind—is right here in the present moment. Our very own awareness is itself fundamentally pure and good. The only problem is that we get so caught up in the ups and downs of life that we don’t take the time to pause and notice what we already have.

    Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

    One of the first things I do when I awake is pray three simple little prayers, if you even want to call them prayers. It sets the tone for my day. Then throughout the day I find times to pause and notice the world around me, the clouds, the changing colors, the beauty of it all! Maybe that pause and awareness is as much a prayer as anything.

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  • fall season,  leaves,  Plants,  seasons,  trees

    Prefer Solitude

    October 12, 2021
    Fall colors from my walk

    “Some people prefer solitude. They say their peace of mind depends on this. Others say they would be better off in church. If you do well, you do well wherever you are. If you fail, you fail wherever you are. Your surroundings don’t matter. God is with you everywhere — in the marketplace as well as in seclusion or in the church. If you look for nothing but God, nothing or no one can disturb you. God is not distracted by a multitude of things.
    Nor can we be.”

    Meister Eckhart

    I have lived alone for many years. During that time I have owned my own place and at times invited others in when necessary for short periods of time. That changes this week as I will be staying with friends in their spare bedroom while mold mitigation is done to my condo. So my surroundings are different. My lifestyle will be different. My solitude will be different. To top it off my car is in the shop for a couple days so I’m not as mobile. We will see if I do well in my new situation and temporary surroundings. 😁

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  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  quotes,  Reservoir Ridge Natural Area,  sunsets

    Peace Within

    September 16, 2021

    “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

    Ralph Waldo Emerson

    This is the time of the year when mornings begin to get cooler and afternoons stay hot. We call it fall. Met with a friend this morning at Pineridge Natural Area to watch the sunrise and sip on our chai lattes. We wore jackets. Made a crockpot of vegetable soup this morning before I left the condo and shared that with another friend at noon. When it reached 92 I decide it was time to visit Reservoir Ridge Natural Area. Without a jacket. As I took it all in, nature provided a nice wind to bring relief from the heat and provided some soothing sounds and sights for me to enjoy. A blue jay squawks from the cottonwoods behind me. A starburst shoots through the trees. I’m noticing leaves beginning to change colors. A hawk circles above. Clouds lazily drift overhead. Soon the sun dropped behind the mountains and I felt the coolness of the air. As this busy day comes to a close I reflect on both the good choices and poor choices I made today. And, I smile because there is a peace within. ❤️

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  • lifestyles,  quotes,  writing/reading

    A Chapter has Ended

    August 19, 2021
    Easter morning – Monte, Mom, Sheree, Marcee

    “You don’t go around grieving all the time, but the grief is still there
    and always will be.”

    Nigella Lawson

    The constant sound of the pulsating oxygen concentrator is silent. A quiet has settled over the room. My mother died peacefully early this morning, Her suffering has ended. I will miss her.

    A large weight has been lifted from my 92 year old father who now faces the painful absence of a spouse of 72 years. We will all be there for him, and each other, as we go through our own grieving process to find some peacefulness and serenity that we’ve been missing for several weeks.

    This will not be a wordy post or any attempt at expressing how I feel at the moment because I’m not sure how I feel. There’s a sense I will probably process her life and death for the rest of my life. And to be honest, I actually look forward to that. I again thank all of you for your thoughts, prayers and well wishes you have offered my family.

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  • insects,  quotes

    Discovered the fly

    July 11, 2021

    “The Utah deserts and plateaus and canyons are not a country of big returns, but a country of spiritual healing, incomparable for contemplation, meditation, solitude, quiet, awe, peace of mind and body. We were born of wilderness, and we respond to it more than we sometimes realize. We depend upon it increasingly for relief from the termite life we have created. Factories, power plants, resorts, we can make anywhere. Wilderness, once we have given it up, is beyond our reconstruction.”

    Wallace Stegner

    I believe Stegner’s quote is valid for any place. Wilderness is always close by even in our cities but becoming smaller all the time. And we mistakenly call the elimination of these places development. Sigh!

    I noticed some Campanula rapunculoides, also known by the common name of creeping bellflower, in a greenbelt and canal area on a walk along Shields Avenue. I felt a closer look was necessary. After a few photos I spotted these mushrooms. Since I was already on my knees I decided they also needed to have their photo taken. I took three photos of the mushrooms and later discovered the fly is only in one image. Guess the fly wanted their photo taken also. 😁

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  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  seasons,  sunrises,  winter scenes

    Another Sunrise

    December 18, 2020
    Young lady watching the sunrise at Pineridge Natural Area on a cold December morning

    What’s broken can be mended.
    What hurts can be healed.
    And no matter how dark it gets,
    The sun is going to rise again.

    Well, back to another sunrise. Took this image yesterday but this one is a bit different. I arrived at predawn when the sky was pink and took a few images of those colors. It was 18 degrees and a slight breeze from the northwest. What is different about this image is the young lady located in the lower left corner of the image. She is sitting on a small bench at the trailhead, wrapped in a blanket and sipping on a thermos of hot coffee or maybe tea. I was there about 45 minutes and she was there when I arrived, sitting on that bench the whole time. We watched this lovely sunrise as well as seeing a couple coyotes walk across the frozen reservoir in search of food. We did not talk. Not sure the reason she needed to be there but for me nature is a place to go when I need to find healing, answers, peace, serenity, silence, a boost, even a good cry and most often the need to slow down the chatter of my thinking. It had warmed up to 19 degrees by the time she left. I departed soon after. We’re expecting light snow today so right now it is overcast and windy. Happy Friday!!

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  • clouds,  landscape,  prairie,  snow,  sunrises

    Life is not like that…

    January 30, 2020
    Sunrise in eastern Colorado

    I felt a strong emotion rise to the surface while on my bus ride this morning. Tears welled up in my eyes, not from sadness or pain but more along the lines of some feeling of love. What is strange about this feeling of love is because of an incident of anger that happened 15 minutes earlier while leaving the condo. I was running a couple minutes late and if I didn’t hustle I would miss the bus which would cause me to have to wait a half hour for the next bus. As I grabbed the doorknob I remembered I needed to get my renewed bus pass out of the pocket of my backpack and felt the anxiety within. As I took the backpack off I got tangled up with the straps and my anxiety burst into anger and choice words (#@&!). Almost immediately after hearing the words come out of my mouth and noticed my  increased emotions, I took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. I ask myself what was I really angry at? It was sure not the backpacks fault. This led to a few moments of reflection. While walking to the bus stop I became aware of how much I wanted the world to run smoothly all the time, especially for me. But, the reality is life is not like that.

    Then while on the bus I observed these students solemnly heading to class and wondered what they may be going through. I could see some to be stressed out with school or worried about some relationship that is struggling. Maybe there are health problems in their life, theirs or family. No one’s life runs smoothly all the time nor is there a reason to expect it. The real question is how we face and deal with life. For me the feeling of love on the bus was for those who may be going through much more than getting tangled up their backpack. I have much to learn. Sigh! If you read this far, thanks for listening.

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  • grass,  landscape,  natural areas,  quotes

    Praying for peace and forgiveness…

    January 8, 2020
    Smooth waters on the Poudre River

    It takes courage to forgive someone who has wronged us. Because we are often so caught up in our egos that forgiving seems like losing an egoistic battle. But sometimes we have to take the high road with forgiveness, both for the other person and for our own wellbeing. Sure wish more egos were right sized and forgiveness more acceptable.

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