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

    Showing up…

    “When we show up to make art, we need to get still enough to hear what wants to be expressed through us, and then we need to step out of the way and let it. We must be willing to abide in a space of not knowing before we can settle into knowing.”

    Mirabai Starr

    They are predicting snow by midday so I made my way to Pineridge Natural Area in hopes of predawn red skies. I bundled up, made myself a chai and headed up there. We just never know what will be given. Thankfully nature provided the scene, the colors, the clouds, the cold, the wind and I showed up to be a part of it. I bracketed this shot and chose the image that was underexposed by one stop to draw out the colors in the sky. Now sitting at Starry Night enjoying a mocha latte made by Douglas to add to this day. Hope everyone has a great day! It’s starting out beautiful here!

  • landscape,  People/Portraits,  Self-portraits,  sunrises

    love beyond my fear…

    A predawn self-portrait near Horsetooth Reservoir – 2012

    Wakan Tanka, Great Mystery,
    teach me how to trust
    my heart,
    my mind,
    my intuition,
    my inner knowing,
    the senses of my body,
    the blessings of my spirit.
    Teach me to trust these things
    so that I may enter my Sacred Space
    and love beyond my fear,
    and thus Walk in Balance
    with the passing of each glorious Sun.

    Lakota Prayer
  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  poems,  poetry,  quotes,  sunrises

    Intense Sky

    Predawn sky over Dixon Reservoir this morning

    May all I say and all I think
    be in harmony with thee,
    God within me,
    God beyond me,
    maker of the trees.

    Chinook prayer, Pacific Northwest Coast

    Almost 9:45 am. It has been a busy morning already. Made a drive to Pineridge Natural Area to greet the morning sunrise. The predawn sky was an intense red, not sure my sensor would pickup the true color. Shortly after shooting this image the clouds did take on a beautiful shade of pink and orange colors. Interestingly I preferred this image. Later, people at the coffee shop were talking about the morning’s intense sunrise. Reminded me the gift of sunrises are not just for my pleasure but for all of creation.

    Will meet with friends at noon and then later in the evening with other friends but it will not be to watch the game. My interest in such events has passed on to other interests. Tomorrow morning will be my procedure (Left Heart Cath) then will meet with surgeons on Wednesday.

    A smile comes across my face as I imagine what a peaceful world it would be if everyone prayed the simple prayer above as a way to start each day. And each day we changed the word trees to something different, naming anything of creation. Anyway, may you have a wonderful day and may all we say and all we think be in harmony.

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

    Mysteries of Life

    Sunrise this morning at Pineridge Natural Area

    “Within the mystery of life there is the infinite darkness of the night sky lit by distant orbs of fire, the cobbled skin of an orange that releases its fragrance to our touch, the unfathomable depths of the eyes of our lover. No creation story, no religious system can fully describe or explain this richness and depth. Mystery is so every-present that no one can know for certain what will happen one hour from now. It does not matter whether you have religion or are an agnostic believe in nothing, You can only appreciate (without knowing or understanding) the mysteries of life.”

    Jack Kornfield

    Awoke early and headed to Pineridge Natural Area for some sanctuary time and to take a dozen images of the sunrise. Last sunrise image up there was on December 11th, so it had been a while. Always a good way to begin the day and appreciate the mysteries of life. Seems to be cold almost everywhere so stay warm and dry!

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

    It’s Cold

    Predawn at Dixon Reservoir – November 2022

    My responsibility is to speak the truth as I feel it, and to attempt to speak it with as much precision and beauty as possible.

    Audre Lorde

    The truth this morning is: it’s cold and I feel it! A brisk -4 degrees at 7:00 am. And, overcast skies and a light snow are part of the truth. We will not see the sun today but hoping to see it tomorrow. This image was taken this past November at Dixon Reservoir. My son is coming over for a late lunch today and bringing butternut squash soup. Bring it on, I say. Thanks for stopping by.

  • clouds,  John O'Donohue,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  poems,  sunrises

    Listening

    Like the joy of the sea coming home to shore,
    May the relief of laughter rinse through your soul.

    As the wind loves to call things to dance,
    May your gravity be lightened by grace.

    Like the dignity of moonlight restoring the earth,
    May your thoughts incline with reverence and respect.

    As water takes whatever shape it is in,
    So free may you be about who you become.

    As silence smiles on the other side of what’s said,
    May your sense of irony bring perspective.

    As time remains free of all that it frames,
    May your mind stay clear of all it names.

    May your prayer of listening deepen enough
    to hear in the depths the laughter of god.

    John O’Donohue

    Another cold morning of 5 degrees at 6:30 am. Sometimes on mornings like this I wonder if I need to move to a warmer climate. Then realize we really do not have days like this very often. Even though you may hear me whine I still can manage to rise before dawn, have my quiet time then go to sacred places to experience the predawn light and sunrise or meander to a coffee shop or both. I live a good life with all its difficulties and joys. I have much to be grateful for. And when I do hear myself whine I am able to listen deeply enough to hear and experience God laughing with me and within me. I’m then not as cold. The image is pre dawn light at Pineridge Natural Area taken last week because this morning I only meandered to the coffee shop. 😂

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

    Morning Reflections

    “The health of the eye seems to demand a horizon. We are never tired, so long as we can see far enough.”

    Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature

    I had to smile this morning with the reflections off Dixon Reservoir at Pineridge Natural Area. And, I must say I love that inviting distant horizon. I wonder just how far I can see from this vantage point. Such a quiet morning to enjoy on this December day. They say snow is on its way later Monday and into Tuesday. Then have colder days later into the week. I hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

  • clouds,  desert,  landscape,  sunrises,  writing/reading

    What are the gifts of new days for?

    Predawn light along Peralta Trail, Arizona – 2016

    The gift of a new day (I touched on that in Thursday’s post) always offers the opportunity for something new to experience that will only happen or begin on this day. I’m so much more aware of that than in my youth. So here is a list of some opportunities that pop into my mind as I write this post, which could be totally different next week. It’s short because I’m expecting each of us to add our own.

    So, new days are for writing our first poem, begin or finish our autobiography, face the blank canvas of our first painting, bake our first pie and be brave enough to eat it, write our first song or maybe just the chorus, take dance lessons or dance in the rain, find the courage to ask her out for dinner, give our granddaughter her first driving lesson, develop our fist black and white print, watching our first sunrise in the desert in a state of awe, running our first marathon or accepting the fact it ain’t gonna happen at this age, begin a new adventure as we are never too old, plant a vegetable garden, learn to ride a horse or a unicycle or snowboard, and the list goes on and on….

  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  rants,  Reservoir Ridge Natural Area,  sunrises,  sunsets

    Predawn Light and Blue Hour

    Predawn at Pineridge Natural Area

    The clouds looked inviting early this morning so I made my way to Pineridge in hopes of some colors in those clouds. But the colors I was hoping for did not materialize which happens when I set my expectations too high. Anyway it was wonderful to be there. I did return with cold hands and toes which always seems to make my mocha latte, made by Nate this morning, even better.

    Blue Hour at Claymore Lake

    I found myself in a funk while writing yesterday afternoon. So, with the sun still shining and about an hour left before sunset, I headed to Reservoir Ridge Natural Area to sit with all of creation and, also, to watch the sunset. I found what I needed. I am aware that when I leave I always need to carry home with me what I find there.

    Some time after the sun has set, we enter the period of twilight called the nautical stage where everything around seems to turn blue. They call it blue hour because the sunlight’s blue wavelengths dominate due to the Chappuis absorption caused by ozone (you can check it out). I love this blue color and one of the many reason I gravitate to the twilight hours.

    On a sad note, today is the 81st anniversary for the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It is a day to remember the lives lost on that day (both sides, military and civilian), the families of those who lost loved ones, and the millions of lives needlessly lost over the next four years of war. President Roosevelt in his speech the following day called it a day which will live in infamy. My prayer is that day of infamy be a time for the world to wake up to the fact that we have never found peace through war.