• clouds,  landscape,  quotes,  snow,  sunsets,  trees,  winter scenes

    My Wishes for You…

    December 25, 2023

    When we live as if everything is sacred, which it is if you really think about it, we relate to the things in our environment in a much more responsible way.

    Jane Reichhold

    Not sure I can adequately list all that I wish for you but here is a short one… Wishing you oodles of joy, happiness, peace, good health, Dove’s chocolates, the miraculous gifts of each new day (sunrises, sunsets, rainbows, butterflies), a heart bursting with love and hope, a heart of gratitude, family times, new adventures, DQ Blizzards (at least the small size), the gift of the songbirds morning canticle, innumerable hugs, moments of silence and stillness, listening to your inner voice or the sound of the wind or the quiet voice of silence, more time with nature, a book or poem that nurtures your heart and soul, the lyrics of a new or an old song that touches you at some new and deep level, new friends, times of quiet prayer and meditation, and to live as if everything is sacred!!! ❤️

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  • 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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    • clouds,  coffee shops,  Documentary/Street,  flowers,  fountain pens,  HDR,  journal,  landscape,  mountains,  natural areas,  Plants,  sunrises,  sunsets,  trees

      Welcome to 2020

      January 1, 2020

      [ngg src=”galleries” ids=”67″ display=”basic_slideshow”]I was not going to choose and post my 2019 favorites but here it is. My criteria I have used is about the emotion they emit for me: I like them. So, what did my camera find in it’s view finder? I have noticed there are not as many candid portraits in this group but one of them was of Santa and his pickup truck. There are images from a couple of new coffee shops I found. And, of course there are the bus rides, Old Town street scenes and campus images as I used the bus system a lot in 2019. Plants and flowers still catch my eye and of course the sunrises and sunsets from the local nature areas. All the images are local except one from Colorado Springs.

      Hope the coming year of 2020 is full of happiness, joy and wonderful adventures.

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    • clouds,  landscape,  mountains,  musings,  sunsets,  trees,  writing/reading

      Silence Within

      March 20, 2018

      Solitude at Sunset
      Solitude at Sunset

      I go to this area on regular basis because it’s only about 5-6 miles from my home. Until last night I never paid any attention to this tree. Just to to right of of the image are a group of trees I photograph on a regular basis but not this one. I don’t even remember seeing it before. Anyway it is now on my list of subjects to look for.

      Silence has become an essential part of my life. It’s not just a time to sit and have external quiet. Finding inner quiet has been a process over the past 20 years or so. I found it useful when I worked as a fight attendant. When flying I discovered how to find places of silence. After the chaotic boarding process we would begin pushing away from the gate and begin our taxi to the runway. It’s at this point we take our jump-seats and as we are trained, make a silent review. This silent review entails a walk through our minds all steps we would take in case of an emergency during takeoff. After a silent review I would also use this time to quiet my inner self. This included deep breaths to help silence the mind. There was no silence in that aircraft but I could find the silence within me.

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    • landscape,  sunsets

      I Had Visitors Come to Colorado

      June 24, 2015

      Sunset
      After Sunset

      This past week I had the chance to meet up with fellow photography Tom Dills and his wife Kathy. They were on vacation, exploring Colorado for the first time. The last part of their itinerary included a few days in Fort Collins. I gladly took them for a short tour of the Colorado Front Range and the eastern plains. Our landscape is very different from the wooded area in North Carolina. We also met for dinner a couple for nights as they explored the town of Fort Collins. We enjoyed dinner at a couple  restaurants in town. They are good people and I enjoyed visiting with them. There were only a couple of times when Tom and I wandered off in our conversation about photography gear and software, leaving Kathy to listening mode.

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    • clouds,  HDR,  landscape,  quotes,  sunsets

      A Hoot in Hell

      July 10, 2013

      Sunset on 26th
      Sunset on 26th

      “When I first became interested in photography, I thought it was the whole cheese. My idea was to have it recognized as one of the fine arts. Today I don’t give a hoot in hell about it. The mission of photography is to explain man to man and each man to himself. And that is no mean function.” – Edward Steichen

      Yes, this is a manipulated image. It is composed of three images and run through HDR Efex Pro and then processed with Silver Efex Pro. No plants, clouds or sky were touched. I did remove about a half dozen dust spots. 🙂

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