• nature,  quotes

    The web of all life

    May 1, 2026

    My God is too vast to be contained by theology, too mysterious to be defined, too holy to be personified. My God neither punishes nor rewards, but invites me into a living relationship that unfolds in the heart of all that is. My God belongs to everyone, and this belonging connects me to the web of all life.

    Mirabai Starr

    It has been a beautiful day with clear blue skies, sunshine and a gentle cooling breeze. I used yesterday and today to recover from the traveling. I got some grocery shopping done and made tuna salad. This afternoon I spent time at Pineridge Natural Area for the silence, solitude, and journal time. I believe my time at the coffee shop and in these Natural Areas are places where I do connect with the web of life. They are essential in my life! And hope you had a Happy May Day! Enjoy your weekend!

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  • Arapaho Bend Natural Area,  landscape,  quotes,  sunrises,  winter scenes

    Our work…

    January 14, 2026

    “Our work, rather, is to help reawaken the sense of the sacred that is already deep in the human soul,
    our primordial relationship with nature, our ancient mother love of the earth.
    We can be part of its rising again.”

    John Philip Newell

    My recovery is moving along, slowly but surely. I am sleeping in later but I am sleeping restless. They have me sleeping with an oxygen concentrator at night which could be the culprit. I also do take naps throughout the day but I will rest when my body lets me know. I am going to venture out to the coffee shop in the morning. Since I can’t drive yet Jeff will pick me up and we will make a frontal attack on Mugs on Laurel. We are not giving them any warnings, either. We have had intermittent clouds and sunshine today and reached 60 degrees. The sun has set and I am enjoying an Earl Gray Tea. I hope you had a good day!

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  • clouds,  horizons,  landscape,  quotes,  silence

    Living in Solitude

    November 7, 2025

    I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.

    Albert Einstein

    I embraced solitude in my youth while at the same time I was blessed to have close friends and savor memories of times with them. But I remember spending time alone where I used my imagination to create worlds I could control but also kept me from living in reality. In my youth the reality of the world had people in it that did not think or see as I thought and therefore my youth has painful memories. I can recall the wounds inflicted from bullies and the adults who would find fault when I didn’t think as they did and even a God, who I was taught, was finding fault in me. I remember believing there was something wrong with me if I didn’t want to be a part of the crowd and so I would fearfully make the effort to try and fit in. So it is in gratitude that my years of maturity have allowed me to enjoy the delicious gift of healthy solitude in my life while also living in healthy relationships and the gift to have both. 

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  • leaves,  quotes

    … need to sweep my floor

    October 5, 2025

    To live without self-centered expectations is the secret of freedom in personal relationships.

    Eknath Easwaran

    This was the scene when I walked into my condo this morning. Scenes like this are common with this time of the year. It’s almost impossible to keep my floors clean. Yesterday afternoon I stood on my porch and watched with wonder as trees let go of the leaves allowing them to freefall on to the next stage of their lives. I was amazed at how many and how fast they were falling. The slight breeze would send a wave of them across the yard. All of a sudden a gust of wind came up and a pile of them would circle me on my porch. The rustling music the leaves make is soothing to me. I smiled. Now I need to sweep my floor. May you enjoy all your personal relationships today.

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  • clouds,  leaves,  natural areas,  nature,  quotes

    The Strength of a Touch

    September 23, 2025
    Cottonwood leaves
    Cattails and reflections
    Clouds over Big Bass Pond

    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!

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  • landscape,  natural areas,  nature,  quotes,  sunrises

    … with each moment

    September 2, 2025
    Cloudless sunrise at about 6:31:38 am

    Mindfulness is an ancient form of meditation in which one pays attention to the present moment and all that’s unfolding in that moment, both within and around one. It’s known also as conscious living because the person practicing it is forming an aware and intimate relationship with each moment.

    Sue Monk Kidd
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  • Avian,  nature,  quotes

    …calling me by my name

    June 7, 2025

    In indigenous ways of knowing, all beings are recognized as non-human persons, and all have their own names. It is a sign of respect to call a being by its name, and a sign of disrespect to ignore it. Words and names are the ways we humans build relationship, not only with each other, but also with plants.

    Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss

    If words and names are the ways we humans build relationships then calling one another derogatory names on social media, or the playground, does not build relationships. If anything it builds more walls. I will go as far as saying it’s immature, even frustrating. When I listen to a meadowlark sing from its heart my spirit hears it as an invitation. And just maybe it’s calling me by my name. No walls there!

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  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  quotes

    Why I write…

    May 6, 2025

    …I write to better understand myself and my relationship with everything else. If my writing does indeed influence the world in a positive way, either now or in some future time, I’m all for it. And if for some reason it doesn’t, I’m okay with that too. But before any greater analysis is made, it’s important to keep in mind that my work helps me understand who I am. What happens after simply happens.

    Robert Lax

    I practice my photography and writing to understand myself and the world around me. It’s interesting to think that we do not know just how many people read our blogs. Could be less than ten or over a hundred. I’m not actually interested in knowing those numbers. So, I write on this blog and I journal to better understand myself and my relationship with the world around me. If my writing touches someone or helps them understand themselves or me, then it has been worth the work.

    We have had a nice gentle rain the past 24 hours providing much needed moisture.

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  • poems

    Facing the Coming Storms

    June 21, 2024

    We will be known as a culture that feared death
    and adored power, that tried to vanquish insecurity
    for the few and cared little for the penury of the
    many. We will be known as a culture that taught
    and rewarded the amassing of things, that spoke
    little if at all about the quality of life for
    people, for dogs, for rivers. All
    the world, in our eyes, they will say, was a
    commodity. And they will say that this structure
    was held together politically, which it was, and
    they will say also that our politics was no more
    than an apparatus to accommodate the feelings of
    the heart, and that the heart, in those days,
    was small, and hard, and full of meanness.

    Mary Oliver
    Red Bird (2008)

    I’ll begin by saying it seems the majority of the world does not have the ability to develop relationships, even with themselves. I’m not sure I could 20 years ago. There is more focus on ourselves, our wants and a fear of losing what we already have. Relationships ask us to step out of our comfort zones and change. Thus, we have a world in constant turmoil and conflict with seemingly few solutions and people become disheartened. 

    I have changed throughout my life and hopefully for the better. Some changes have come from pain and suffering and some from asking questions that uncover self-knowledge already within me. I attribute some of that to my journaling. Many of those pages are filled with questions. Wonderfully each question leads to another question and another and another…. Can I look for the similarities in others rather than differences? Can I accept that I am not the center of the universe but a small, significant part of all of creation? Can I have the courage to believe others may have more to teach me than I have to teach them, requiring me to always remain a student? Can I believe peace starts within me, the small world I can touch and then spreads outward, not the other way? Can I be willing to take action in my life to stand up against any neglect, abuse, and stigmatization of all creation? Can I respect all of life? Can I change my way of living without expecting the rest of the world to change with me? I’ve become a firm believer that once there is a psychic change within anyone’s life they and the world around them change. And, what about this thing called forgiveness? How well do I forgive? Contrary to some, true change always starts with me! Having said that, can I now, like the mosquito in a tent, believe that I can make an impact on the world no matter how insignificant that may seem? Am I willing to take the risk to change, to be attacked by those who cannot relate or maybe unwilling to change themselves? History has shown that some have paid a high price when they change or suggest that we can change. We call them prophets. So, instead of living with a heart that is small, hard and full of meanness, I am seeking a larger heart that is soft and full of love. Can I believe my few words and actions can bring about change? Can I be the tree that stands on the ridge facing the storms of life?

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  • Avian,  nature,  quotes

    Reservoir of Life

    June 4, 2024

    As long as Earth remains an “it,” a “thing,” rather than a living vibrant reservoir of life, humans will continue to use and abuse her. We need a loving relationship with this generous, vulnerable planet in which we live. Only then will we allow her songs of rich abundance to dance in the rhythms of our lives, only then will we respond with reverent care and live with daily gratitude.

    Joyce Rupp
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