• clouds,  leaves,  natural areas,  nature,  quotes

    The Strength of a Touch

    The healing of our present woundedness may lie in recognizing and reclaiming the capacity we all have to heal each other, the enormous power in the simplest of human relationships: the strength of a touch, a blessing of forgiveness, the grace of someone else taking you just as you are and finding in you an unsuspected goodness.

    Rachel Naomi Remen, Kitchen Table Wisdom

    I sit on a rock bench looking out across Big Bass Pond at Arapaho Bend Natural Area. It’s about 1:57 pm. I feel the warmth of the 77 degree temperature but accepting the grace of relief provided by the cloudy skies. I notice the small world of life all around me that I so often overlook. Bees, butterflies, and beetles feasting on the nectar of the rabbitbrush. Ants, spiders, grasshoppers and unnamable bugs scurry or jump around me. Cottonwood leaves become intricate works of art as the autumn equinox arrives. And the cattails showing the golden tips of their swords. I am grateful to slow down and experience the healing given by being present to this world. It is a gift that has much to teach me. Now a rumble of thunder gives notice for me to move on. By the time I reach the car, raindrops have begun to fall. (Entry from my journal.) So here are three images from the afternoon.

    This morning a steady, gentle rain falls. It began just after I got up, around 4:30 am. My weather app predicts it will continue until mid afternoon. I have my front door open so I can hear and take in the fragrance of this refreshing rain. It’s a good day to journal, read and work on this blogs transformation. Thanks for being here and have a great day!

  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  quotes,  sunrises

    Positive Silence

    Silence has many dimensions. It can be a regression and an escape, a loss of self, or it can be presence, awareness, unification, self-discovery. Negative silence blurs and confuses our identity, and we lapse into daydreams or diffuse anxieties. Positive silence pulls us together and makes us realize who we are, who we might be, and the distance between the two. Hence, positive silence implies a choice, and what Paul Tillich called the “courage to be.”

    Thomas Merton

    After my meditation and quiet I ventured up to Pineridge Natural Area to spend time in the silence I find in this sanctuary. Baby cottontails greeted me as I arrived. Rabbitbrush and sunflowers danced with the light wind. No words in this silence but so much is said and heard. To me this is positive silence. As I stood there and watched the sun break through the clouds a light rain began to fall. The light rain was refreshing with both its feel and fragrance. May you have a wonderful Sunday and the “courage to be.

  • clouds,  landscape,  quotes

    Clicked the Shutter

    Storm clouds from this afternoon

    Sometimes I arrive just when God’s ready to have someone click the shutter.

    Ansel Adams

    I clicked the shutter on this image this afternoon after the rain storms had moved on. It looks like sunshine the next four days then more rain. The rain we have had over the past 4 days has sure made things green and after today, my car is a muddy mess. And, I just love this quote! Hope you had a good Friday!

  • coffee life,  quotes

    A Love Affair

    I’m having a love affair with my coffee life.

    mws

    I was awakened during the night by rain gushing down the rain gutter outside my window. It sounded like a river but we only received about a quarter of an inch. This morning it is still overcast, looks threatening, and more rain is possible. The high today is only expected to reach 56 degrees so about 20 degrees cooler today. Tomorrow is expected to be the same so I have makings for cream of chicken noodle soup for the crockpot in the morning. It does not feel like June which made my Old Town Mocha seem like just the right medicine I needed. Thank you Dean!!

  • Avian

    Cute and Fuzzy

    On Monday I photographed these two goslings that seem to be orphaned. They are following a group of 10-15 mature Canada Geese but not seem connected to any one or two of them. I’ve even watched as some will move away when the little ones get too close as if they want nothing to do with them, even snapping at them. Makes me wonder if they were being chased by a raccoon if any of them would try to defend the goslings. I titled this post cute and fuzzy but even at this age they are a pooping machine! As my dad would say, “In one end and out the other.”

    Sadly, as of yesterday I only saw one of them and this morning no sign of either of them. The way of Nature is not always my way. I leave shortly to have lunch with my oldest daughter and then meet Duane at 1:45 pm. More rain predicted this afternoon.

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

    A Part of Nature

    We moved from being a part of nature to being apart from nature.

    David Attenborough

    Most of the trails in the Natural Areas are closed due to wet and muddy conditions from this gentle rain we have been enjoying the past three of days. And, not much more to say about the clouds that this image doesn’t say. Green dominates the eyes, especially when it is wet. I enjoy being a part of nature!

  • clouds,  mountains,  sunsets

    Last Night’s Sunset

    CSU Campus

    After about 36 hours of overcast skies that brought much needed moisture, the storm moved to the east late yesterday afternoon. Blue skies once again appeared and the late afternoon sunshine spread its golden glow upon us. We did experience some heavy rain early afternoon and even hail. It seemed like the color green popped out in the blink of an eye. I took this image yesterday evening about 8:00 pm after leaving the movie premiere I attended at CSU. Then, this afternoon I took a bicycle ride to Spring Creek Park where there was still remnants of flooding along low lying areas of the trail and the underpasses. I hope you had a wonderful Thursday!

  • bicycling,  quotes

    Reflections

    We don’t change as we get older – we just get to be more of what we’ve always been.

    Joan D. Chittister

    I took this on my ride home from coffee along Spring Creek Trail this morning. Saw the reflections and had to stop and turn around! There are not that many places along the trail where you can take a photo without the sign of man intruding. Did my best to crop out the buildings but you can see the reflection of them in the creek. We are expecting this lovely sunshine to become rain later this afternoon and into tomorrow. Would love to see the moisture. I hope you have a great day!

  • landscape,  quotes,  storm clouds

    It is everywhere

    Storm clouds over Watson Lake

    “Peace will come to the hearts of men when they realize their oneness with the universe. It is everywhere.”

    Black Elk

    This morning we had intermittent rain and snow showers and much colder temperatures than I wanted. Last Thursday I had an echocardiogram done. About 10 am today I had a CT Scan and will know the results next week. And, I am having a TEE (Transesophageal Echocardiogram) procedure next Thursday. These tests are to check out how the aortic valve is functioning after two years. Notice how I talked about the weather in one sentence then the next four talking about my old guy medical issues. 😂 Enjoy your weekend! And it is snowing now!