• clouds,  gratitude,  lake,  landscape,  reflections,  sunsets,  writing/reading

    Four years ago today

    December 5, 2022
    Sunset over Rigden Reservoir

    … I had my heart surgery, where they replaced my aortic valve. So, I thought I’d share my gratitude list with you today as it follows the theme of my last posting: 

    • Thankful for a healthy heart and it’s as full as it is 
    • Thankful for time with family and friends
    • Thankful for the opportunity to enjoy the things that have become such a gift in my life such as time with nature, photography, blogging, conversations with family and friends
    • Thankful for my prayer and meditation times
    • Thankful for my journals, fountain pens and the words I uncover with them
    • Thankful I can experience and enjoy each new sunrise and sunset
    • Thankful for another day to venture into a coffee shop to visit my favorite baristas
    • Thankful for the chance to read poetry, which I’d never done before
    • Thankful for the chance to try my hand at poetry, haiku
    • Thankful for the chance to create more of my photo books to share my photography and my words
    • Thankful for my home and the remodeling this past year
    • Thankful for blueberries in my Irish Oats 😂
    • Thankful for DQ Blizzards 😂
    • Thankful for my camera upgrade 2 years ago and a lust for the next upgrade 😂
    • Thankful that what I have is enough and in all honesty do not need anything more than what is already in my life
    • Thankful that there are still those who embrace love, compassion, serenity, joy, hope, peace and …. ❤️
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  • landscape,  Plants,  quotes,  reflections,  sunrises,  trees

    Predawn Twilight

    November 16, 2022
    Predawn light at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in 2011

    “The most beautiful thing in the world is, of course, the world itself.”

    Wallace Stevens

    Sun has just set. Weather app says snow will begin after midnight and into tomorrow with 2-6 inches. Road conditions will not be good for commuters tomorrow morning or evening. This image was taken 11 eleven years ago at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. I enjoyed going to this area for morning quiet time and photographs. Because of the reflection on those calm waters I was gifted with two views of this beautiful world that particular morning.

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  • National Parks,  reflections,  Yellowstone National Park

    Clear Blue Waters

    September 8, 2022

    One thing I noticed while on this trip to Yellowstone was how clear and clean the waters were. This was true of both lakes and rivers. Big Springs is a first-magnitude spring located in Island Park, Idaho in Fremont County. It produces over 120 million gallons of water each day. Looking into that spring water was breathtaking, it was so clear. The spring is also famous for its large rainbow trout which congregate at the foot of the bridge waiting to be fed by the tourists. And no fishing allowed. We didn’t feed them but took it all in. The above image is along the shoreline of Lewis Lake in Yellowstone National Park. You can still see the bottom 15 feet from shore. The bottom image is of one of the rainbow trout taken from the bridge at Big Springs.

    Rainbow Trout
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  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  reflections,  Uncategorized

    Lines

    September 6, 2022
    Dixon Reservoir

    “Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”

    Terry Pratchett

    Lines are a draw for me in my photography. The line of the shoreline, the line of the horizon and the line of the log, all pull me to this scene. And, their parallel paths take me from one side of the image to the other.

    An important practice of a photographer is walking around a scene several times to get new perspectives. And this needs to be done on a regular basis, say several days or weeks in a row.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  reflections,  sunsets

    Road Trip

    August 25, 2022
    Sunset at Fremont Lake near Pinedale, Wyoming – July 2003

    Gonna make a short road trip to a place just outside of West Yellowstone where my friends Duane and Jan are working in an RV park. Leaving this morning and be back on Tuesday evening. Planning on staying a couple nights at Fremont Lake near Pinedale, Wyoming then head to Montana Saturday morning. Last time I was there was 2003 shooting with my new Nikon D100. It was part of a trip I made up to Seattle to visit my sister and brother-in-law. Expecting to be offline for a few days. Hold down the fort!

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

    Predawn Reflections

    July 7, 2022

    About a half hour after taking this predawn image a car arrived in the parking area with four young kids in it. Two of them got out and walked towards the lower parking area and stopped to chat with me. The young man, named Tyler, commented on the nice camera I had then asked what camera I would recommend. I told him to use his phone.

    There was a meadowlark perched on a bush near us, singing away. While, along the water’s edge was a Great Blue Heron getting in some early morning fishing. When I pointed these two birds out to them the young man told me I reminded him of his grandpa. Now, was that because his grandpa is a bird watcher or because I look old enough to be his grandpa? This is a trick question.

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  • clouds,  haiku,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes,  reflections,  sunrises,  sunsets,  writing/reading

    Each Moment

    June 12, 2022
    Pineridge Natural Area at 5:15 am

    These two images were taken about 12 hours apart and at nearly the same location on the same day. This is how my day started and ended and was full of wonderful moments in between. So much beauty in this world when we live each moment, one moment at a time. Happy Sunday!

    Pineridge Natural Area at 5:52 pm
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  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  Plants,  quotes,  trees

    Good to be Alive

    May 26, 2022

    “To be alive in this beautiful, self-organizing universe — to participate in the dance of life with senses to perceive it, lungs that breathe it, organs that draw nourishment from it — is a wonder beyond words.”

    Joanna Macy

    I ventured out to Riverbend Ponds the other night because the sky was filled with clouds and I love clouds. It was rather quiet out there, maybe a half dozen people fishing. The water was very peaceful without the wind. Birds were singing all around me. And those clouds! Yes, it’s good to be alive!

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  • natural areas,  Photography,  Plants,  quotes,  reflections,  trees

    My Companion

    October 25, 2021
    Morning moon over Prospect Ponds Natural Area

    The camera became my companion.

    Edward Weston

    There are times when I can be calm much like the water of this pond and at other times, well not so much. The challenges of living life can act like a fierce wind that creates internal waves. I’ve discovered tools to return to the calm and one of them is time in the silence of nature with a camera, taking deep breaths.

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