• landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  sunrises

    make the effort…

    May 20, 2023
    The morning’s sunrise at Pineridge Natural Area

    We have lived our lives by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. We have been wrong. We must change our lives so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption, that what is good for the world will be good for us. And that requires that we make the effort to know the world and learn what is good for it.

    Wendell Berry

    The Air Pollution Control Division says today: Fine Particulate Matter concentrations are expected to be in the Unhealthy category on Saturday due to wildfire smoke transported from Canadian wildfires. People with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion on Saturday. Everyone else should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion on Saturday.

    You can see in the above image just how messed up the air quality is here in Colorado. This is what it normally looks like. I can hardly imagine what it’s like in Canada. My understanding is that yesterday was worse. I had to look this fire situation with Dr. Google and fill my head with frustrating news. Here is a map of the fires in Canada if you haven’t seen them. Looks like more than 90 fires in Canada. My understanding is that Denver had one of the worst air qualities in the world yesterday.

    I agree with Mr. Berry that we need to make the effort to learn what is good for the world rather than focusing on ourselves as the center of the universe and ignoring the rest of creation. Anyway have a great weekend !

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  • Arapaho Bend Natural Area,  clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  reflections,  silence,  sunrises

    The morning begins…

    May 18, 2023
    Predawn at Pineridge Natural Area

    … as I unintentionally wake at 3:54 am. Wide awake I decide to get up. I made a trip to the bathroom and then settled into my prayer and meditation time. Ate a quick bowl of cereal, made a chai latte and headed out the door in anticipation of this day’s offering. The sun was not up yet but soon would be. I wanted to be at Pineridge Natural Area for pre-dawn light and sunrise.

    Sunrise at Pineridge Natural Area

    Nature has so much to offer us this time of the day with its creative beauty, the silence, the solitude and witnessing the miracle of a new day. When we allow it, it touches the soul. Clouds presented warm pink and orange colors to entice the eyes. Meadowlarks and robins greeted me with beautiful songs of love. One meadowlark who seemed very excited, sang to me the whole time. I watched a Great Blue Heron wading along the shore who was soon joined by four more. I assume all were in anticipation of breakfast.

    Sunrise and light fog at Rolland Moore Park

    From there I headed east towards Arapaho Bend Natural Area in search of possible images of fog and morning light. This is an area that sits along the low lying land of the Poudre River, usually rich with fog. But, as I drove by Rolland Moore Park I could see the sun bursting through trees, casting light across the wet grass and its rays lighting up the fog. Distracted now, I quickly pulled into the parking lot and grabbed my camera and tripod. Again, I was given a lovely gift of golden light, shadows, and the sparkling wet grass. Grateful I was there!

    Sunrise and reflection at Arapaho Bend Natural Area

    By the time I arrived at Arapaho Bend Natural Area the sun had burned off most of the fog. Since the wind blew yesterday the skies this morning were clear and bright. A group of pelicans and Canada Geese were kind enough to share this sanctuary with me. I stood along the shores of the pond, which are reclaimed gravel pits, and let everything soak in, taking in deep breaths. What I experience in these early mornings may seem strange to some but it is my life. I am filled with gratitude! I then moved on with my day in anticipation of the possible gifts yet to come. And one of those gifts is the coffee shop for a mocha latte.1And when I got there (Starry Night) they had just made their chocolate chip/chai scones. They do not make them very often so I had to have one. Hope you enjoyed a peek at my morning images. Have an Awesome day!

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  • landscape,  quotes,  sunrises

    Soaked in Dew

    May 16, 2023

    “By means of all created things, without excaption, the divine assails us, penetrates us, and molds us. We imagined it as distant and inaccessible, when in fact we live steeped in its burning layers”

    Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

    Good morning from Colorado. We had an almost cloudless sunrise this morning but… we had some really enjoyable fog. I left early and headed to Arapaho Bend then made my way to the open fields around Riverbend Ponds. The ponds are located just beyond the trees. I like this vantage point and have shot from it many times before. I included the grass in the foreground because they are soaked in dew. I took about 40 images and had a difficult time deciding which one I liked the best. I think that’s a good thing. Again, I like what creation does as I stand in awe of it’s beauty. I followed this experience with a chai latte and chocolate muffin at Cups Community Coffee. Have a great day!

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

    Those Edges

    May 14, 2023
    Storm clouds over Pineridge Natural Area

    The most interesting parts of the natural world are the edges, places where ocean meets land, meadow meets forest, timberline touches the heights.

    Galen Rowell

    I have been interested in horizons for many years and never really thought of them as edges, where a sky of clouds or stars meets the land, water, forests, prairie and those lovely song birds. Maybe the edges are the most interesting thing for me in my horizons. Could it be that is what the birds are singing about, those edges?

    This morning we have no visible edges on the horizon. Nor are there any dramatic clouds as we had yesterday afternoon in the above image. Instead a fine mist and low clouds sits over Pineridge Natural Area, while the city is shrouded in mystery. Even without the sight of those edges we know of there existence and if we are courageous enough, venture towards them. What discoveries will we find? And those song birds continue to sing reminding us there are edges to discover, maybe even urging us on.

    Happy Mother’s Day!

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  • clouds,  haiku,  landscape,  natural areas,  Photography,  Pineridge Natural Area,  sunrises,  writing/reading

    Our Buddha Nature

    May 10, 2023
    Sunrise this past Sunday morning

    haiku is not a poem,
    it is not literature;
    it is a hand beckoning,
    a door half-opened,
    a mirror wiped clean.

    It is a way of returning to nature,
    to our moon nature,
    our cherry blossom nature,
    our falling leaf nature,
    in short,
    to our Buddha nature.

    R. H. Blyth

    I normally crop all my landscapes in 16 x 9 but this image is cropped in 16 x 10. It’s a subtle difference. So, fair warning as I may be on a new kick for awhile.

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  • clouds,  Humor,  landscape,  musings,  natural areas,  Photography,  Pineridge Natural Area,  sunrises,  writing/reading

    Sunrise at Pineridge Natural Area

    May 6, 2023

    I’ve read where we should never place the subject in the middle of an image because placing the subjects off-center yields a stronger, more natural-looking composition and allows us to make creative use of negative space. Well I do did will break that composition rule technique. I’ve also read that we should not should on ourselves, so I suppose I should stop that.

    The top image is predawn light over Dixon Reservoir taken at 5:49 am and the second image was taken seven minutes later at 5:56 am about 40 feet from the first one. Again, showing us how nature continuously creates. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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

    A New Dawn

    May 5, 2023

    scattered clouds gather
    over the eastern horizon
    the gift of a new dawn

    ms

    Meadowlarks and robins were already singing when I arrived at Pineridge Natural Area this morning. I suspect they knew, just as I knew in my heart, the gift of this new day that was about to burst upon us. As I awaited in the dark, I had time to journal about what I was feeling and seeing. Again those words of awe and wonder came to mind. And then the sun burst forth to begin its journey from horizon to horizon. I pressed the shutter button on my camera hoping to capture some of what I was experiencing to share with you. I offered thanks. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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

    Simple two notes

    May 4, 2023

    two simple notes
    drifting over the meadow
    a chickadee sings

    ms

    Much like the snowflake, every morning sunrise is different. It seems to me that no two morning sunrises will ever be experienced the same. Each new dawn Nature provides a new canvas and uses every tool at her disposal in her creative task. Using the wind, temperature, light, the chickadees song, cloud shapes and patterns, maybe even knowing my intention and attitude that morning, she continuously offers an experience. We never know what she will offer. Maybe that mystery alone is what draws me out here.

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