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

    Exciting Possibilities

    December 31, 2023

    Often when something is ending we discover within it the spore of new beginning, and a whole new train of possibility is in motion before we even realize it. When the heart is ready for a fresh beginning, unforeseen things can emerge. And in a sense, this is exactly what a beginning does. It is an opening for surprises. Surrounding the intention and the act of beginning, there are always exciting possibilities.

    John O’Donohue

    I’m not going to offer a list of my favorite images for 2023 because they’re all my favorites. That is not arrogance but an acknowledgement of a love I have for this craft of photography that even the ones you don’t see are teachers for me. This will be my final post of 2023. It is time to say goodbye to the year and look to the possibilities in 2024. Last year began with a lot of unknowns with my health and this year I have other unknown health issues. Seems to come with this age thing. Yet, I am looking to this coming year with exciting possibilities in all areas of my life. I’m not sure where this year will lead me, what spirit of adventure awaits, whether those are good or bad, what adjustments to my sails I will need to make, what will I need to learn, and what new ground will I walk? Exciting possibilities.

    I started this last day of 2023 at Pineridge Natural Area to take in the cold, in the silence and the amazing colors of predawn. Nothing more energizing for me than beginning the day and ending the year with time in nature. And, I also enjoy witnessing creations ever changing works of art. I then made my way to Starry NIght for an Americano and a croissant. I end this post with a prayer and wish for all your new possibilities in the coming year.

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

    Just Beyond Our Understanding

    December 28, 2023

    The God of our understanding is just that: the God of our understanding. What we need is the God just beyond our understanding.

    Rami Shapiro

    As I set up my tripod this morning, the full moon was setting behind me and the sun had not yet risen. Predawn or twilight are the names we call this time of day. It is a favorite time for me. An orange glow sat along the horizon, a color I have come to know as the gift offering of the day’s mysteries. And today I think I will call those mysteries: adventures. As I returned home and walked to my front door the sky above me became filled with the sight and sounds of hundreds of Canada Geese. I just stood there with a bag of groceries in one hand and 12 roll package of toilet paper under the other arm. I watched them zig and zag in their attempt to keep perfect formation. And, as always there are those one or two or three that wander off course, then hustle to get back in formation or join another formation. I watched the rising sun begin lighting them with its glow against the clear blue sky. I accepted another of the day’s offerings!

    When younger I did not use the name God in any form or shape of reverence or awe, but usually out of anger or frustration with life. I’ll just say it was profanity. I could not understand a God that would cause or allow the pain and suffering I saw in life. However, I reached a point in life where, as Rami Shapiro suggests, I began to seek a God just beyond my understanding. As I experience moments of reverence or awe like this morning, I have a sense this is what God is all about. Yes, it is just beyond my understanding. Hoping you have a wonderful day!

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  • clouds,  landscape,  quotes,  sunrises

    A Sacred Bond

    December 17, 2023
    Predawn at Arapaho Bend Natural Area – 10/6/2023

    “Knowing that you love the earth changes you, activates you to defend and protect and celebrate. But when you feel that the earth loves you in return, that feeling transforms the relationship from a one-way street into a sacred bond.”

    Robin Wall Kimmerer

    I have been blessed in my life with more than one experience of feeling unconditionally loved. Some were for short periods of time and others are still blooming. When we feel loved we will return for more and also return the love. The idea of the earth loving us is a stretch for many. But I believe nature is loving me when she creates predawn and sunset shows, or a field of yellow dandelions, or the meadowlark sings to me, or a chickadee responding to my whistle or that mule deer that turns and makes eye contact with me. And, I call that a sacred bond.

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

    … this meeting place

    December 11, 2023

    I know plenty of people who find God most reliably in books, in buildings, and even in other people. I have found God in all of these places too, but the most reliable meeting place for me has always been creation.

    Barbara Brown Taylor

    The only sound was from my boots crunching the gravel under my feet as I walked to a favorite location along the ridge above Pineridge Natural Area. I like this spot because I can look out to the eastern horizon and find the skies reflection in Dixon Reservoir. When I arrived I setup my tripod then stood, listening to the silence. I like this meeting place in creation. I also didn’t want to take a photo but as you can see I did. Hope you have had a good day.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  quotes,  sunrises

    A Snapshot

    December 9, 2023

    Wisdom suggests new perspectives on ultimate questions: one does not “possess” wisdom but rather is possessed by it.

    Experiencing Spirituality

    On my way to Windsor to meet Eric this morning for coffee I stopped to accept the gift of this sunrise. A snapshot basically: the bright sun blowing out the highlights and showing the dust on my lens. I must admit I enjoy my drives through the country to meet Eric. Helps start the Saturdays. Hope you had a good Saturday!

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

    Morning Sunrise

    December 7, 2023

    “Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.”

    Rumi

    This is a five image panorama from this mornings sunrise over Dixon Reservoir. It’s not the best but it does offer a sense of the majesty of the predawn gift. We had another beautiful day of sunshine and warmth before we see colder temperatures and snow arriving tomorrow evening. Hoping you had a wonderful day.

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

    to begin the day…

    December 6, 2023

    “The beginning of awe is wonder, and the beginning of wisdom is awe.”

    Abraham J. Heschel

    There is nothing quite like beginning the day at Pineridge Natural Area and receive the gift it offers. It does not seem to matter if my time there is for a few minutes or an hour, or whether it’s summer or winter, because something happens inside me every time. It’s not that the day goes my way better but my attitude and perspective in facing the day come from a better place. So a wonderful way to begin the day is to stand in awe and wonder of its beginning… then live the day!

    I have never read any of Abraham Heschel’s books but I find him quoted quite often by many of the authors I read so I may have to change that. Have a wonderful day!

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

    The Language of Nature

    November 23, 2023

    We need to move: from a spirituality of alienation from the natural world to a spirituality of intimacy with the natural world, from a spirituality of the divine as revealed in words to a spirituality of the divine as revealed in the visible world about us.

    Thomas Berry

    I awoke early and made the short trip to Pineridge Natural Area for the predawn colors. We’re expecting snow later today, as much as 4-10 inches by Saturday morning, so I was expecting to see some red sky. I was not disappointed. Almost no wind. Silence, which is such an integral part of the language of nature.

    Later, when I got to the coffee shop I felt a bit of regret as I may not have stayed as long as I could have. Seems my focus had moved on to enjoying a mocha rather than staying present and accepting all the gifts nature was wanting to share with me. Maybe I was intuitively aware of my spirit of alienation from the natural world over the past few days due of traveling. Maybe the divine in nature was asking me not to leave just yet. As I write this post I’m aware of my gratitude for the natural world that we are a part of, that is available to me, my ability to spend time within it and the amount of time I do spend in it. 

    I’ll end this post with a prayer on this Thanksgiving Day: I am thankful for family, friends, and those who are both. I pray for the healing of this wounded world and that we embrace the divinity of this natural world we share. Hoping you enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends.

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