“Ever changing clouds paint portraits on the sky, and each person sees a different image.”
Ever Changing Clouds
-
Late afternoon clouds against a blue sky at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area. -
rebirth
Another flower and bee from the CSU Trial Gardens. there will be moments when
rebirth by Alexandra Elle
you will bloom fully and then
wilt, only to bloom again.
if we can learn anything from
flowers it is resilience is born
even when we feel like we are
dying. - clouds, Fujifilm X-T3, Fujifilm XF16-80mm f4.0, John O'Donohue, landscape, natural areas, poems, Self-portraits, trees
A New Beginning
Quiet time for reading among the pines at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area For a New Beginning
In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.It watched you play with the seduction of safety,
And, the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plentitude opening before you.Though your destination is not yet clear,
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.Awaken your spirit to adventure;
John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm
For your soul senses the world that awaits you. - clouds, Humor, landscape, natural areas, Plants, poems, poetic journal, poetry, sunrises, trees, writing/reading
Couldn’t Sleep
Predawn clouds with the morning sun. 
Sunrsie at Arapaho Bend Natural Area Awoke way too early then struggled to get back to sleep, seem to have more of those nights over the past few years.
So, I crawled out of bed at 4:00 am, had my quiet time, made a french press then headed to the Arapaho Bend Natural Area; may need a nap later.
At 5:45 am most people are still wrapped in blankets so it was quiet except for the birds, they always rise early; always in a seemingly good mood.
The weather people predicted a cloudy day, then rain later, so I took the chance for a sprinkling of clouds in the east; I was awake anyway.
I like the solitude of my life, living alone, plenty of quiet, yearning to live near a natural area, always one of my daydreams; it could come true.
Then I’d rise early each morning to greet the sunrise while listening to the free concert and tire you with another sunrise image; See!
mws -
Journal writing…
Journal time “Journaling is a great way to pay attention to “how it all came to be.” In looking back, you gain insight into (and appreciation for) your challenges, lessons, and perseverance.”
-
Presence of Still Waters
Sunrise at the bus stop last week The Peace of Wild Things
Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free. -
Happy Valentines Day
Light snow is falling while students wait for bus on a cold February morning “When it’s over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.When it is over, I don’t want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.”
-
The Dance
Corn stalks in snow on a cold winter morning The Dance by Linda Tarman
Things are changing.
Slowly, and without much fanfare,
The movement of the soul
Begins its dance.At first the notes ascend lightly
And linger in the ear;
Tantalizing in their simplicity
Gracefully calling
“It’s time to open yourself
And leave the safety of your hiding.”My heart hears, however faintly
And knows it’s true,
My feet, slower to catch on,
Sit planted, keeping time,
Biding time.Rise up, Oh love,
Have you failed to remember
The hope of being desired,
The beauty of being chosen?His hand is extended
The choice is now mine.
I feel my stubborn will giving way
To the impassioned desire.Here, caught in the arms of eternity
I leave my place of redundancy
And, let myself enjoy the dance
As love’s boldness
Sweeps me off my fear. -
Sunrise Morning
This was yesterday morning sunrise. “Praying
It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patcha few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorwayinto thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.”
― Thirst -
Silence
Yellow-headed Blackbird (Female) Beneath every sound is silence.
Within every prayer is silence.
Beneath every distraction is silence.
Within your heart and mind is silence.
