My online journal sharing interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, spirituality and asking deep questions.
I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.
John Burroughs
I awoke early yesterday morning, couldn’t go back to sleep so I got up earlier than I wanted. It has been a busy day but a very good day so I needed this sunset and the quiet at Claymore Lake last night. Hope everyone is having a good Labor Day weekend.
“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.”
John Muir
Drove to the Arapaho Bend Natural Area. Sun had just set. No wind. A subtle pink color in the clouds to the north. Walked to the edge of the reservoir and setup my tripod. Waited and watched. I was given the gift of this moment. Just what I needed. Beauty does that.
Above the mountains
the geese turn into
the light againPainting their
black silhouettes
on an open sky.Sometimes everything
has to be
inscribed across
the heavensso you can find
the one line
already written
inside you.Sometimes it takes
a great sky
to find thatfirst, bright
and indescribable
wedge of freedom
in your own heart.Sometimes with
the bones of the black
sticks left when the fire
has gone outsomeone has written
something new
in the ashes of your life.You are not leaving.
David Whyte
Even as the light fades quickly now,
you are arriving.
As David Whyte’s poem suggests I arrived in time for the sunset offered by Nature.
A cool north wind
ms
invites the tall grass
to dance.
An intimate silence
invites us to pause
to listen.
A golden reflection
invites the gift of this day
to begin.
No clouds this morning but plenty of haze from the smog and smoke drifting from the west coast. Unable to smell them but sure can see their effects. Interesting how the camera sensor does not record the red/orange sun in the sky the same as the reflection in Dixon Reservoir. Hope you had a good weekend and a great week ahead.
Started reading the book Nomadland by Jessica Bruder and finding it interesting. At times it’s sad, at times disturbing, at other times informative and other times funny.
On one of my walks at Dixon Reservoir I noticed this man just getting started with some fishing. The rising sun offered me a wonderful silhouette so I paused, took a deep breath, composed, took five images. Probably three too many but what the heck. For me the mood of this image tells a story about this man’s love for fishing.
My bicycle ride to and from Mugs coffee shop takes me across the campus of Colorado State University. I was surprised this morning at the number of parents dropping off students at dorms. I’ll guess 90% were wearing masks but I imagine that will change when mom leaves. It also brought more awareness of the vast differences we have in our attitudes towards this pandemic. What the heck, maybe these freshman need to become fishermen, standing six feet a part. Yes, I know, I’m thinking out loud again.
“…the difference between confusion and ‘don’t know’ is that confusion can only see one way out and that way is blocked, while ‘don’t know’ is open to miracles and insights.”
This image was taken a few years ago while on a rainy walk. I was surprised when I looked through the viewfinder because of what the camera and lens saw was much different than what my eyes saw. My eyes saw the leaves and reflection both in focus but with the lens stopped down due to the low light, the focus was on the reflection. It was a great photography lesson for me. But, it also teaches that what others will see is not necessarily what we will see.