• clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  quotes,  sunrises

    Mornings are a Gift

    August 22, 2025

    The sage would remind us of the following:
    None should rule who hold themselves above the people.
    Only by living, working, suffering alongside them can one truly be a leader.

    Tao Te Ching (78) By Lao Tzu by: Julian von Bargen, John Braun, Jr., David Warkentin

    One of the blessings of growing older for me has been the discovery that mornings are a gift. Since I’m not the party animal of yesteryears, going to bed early and getting up early are the norm. There is something that comes alive in me when I experience the quiet and stillness of this time of the day. I feel more alive than I did when chasing things that I expected to help me be alive. I am aware of the need to participate within the world, to experience it, and receive it as a gift.

    It’s interesting to note how clouds are always shifting, changing shapes and colors. It is almost unperceivable to the human eye. Yet, a 28 second exposure lets us know of their gradual changing. Observing that is a gift to me. I am heading out to meet friends who are in town and catch up. Have a wonderful weekend!

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  • nature,  Plants,  quotes

    This is a simple fact

    July 28, 2025

    Many do not have enough
    Because a select few have far too much.

    The people are difficult to control
    Because there is someone trying to control them.

    The people are poor and starving
    So they have little to lose in revolting.

    The subjugation of the poor naturally
    leads to the overthrow of the rich.

    This is a simple fact.

    Tao Te Ching (75) By Lao Tzu Rendered by: Julian von Bargen, John Braun, Jr., David Warkentin

    Teasels are one of those plants the invasive human considers to be an invasive plant. Man considers them invasive because they are capable of crowding out native plant species. Which begs the question, “Who is the native plant?” Seems they are native from somewhere and long before man. They have a purpose in life just as everything. The roots and leaves are used to make medicine. People apply teazle to the skin for wound healing, arthritis, and scaly, itchy skin (psoriasis). Anyway, in my eyes they provide beauty, photo opportunities, and their seeds are an important winter food resource for some birds, notably the European goldfinch.

    As you can see I am slowly reading through a translation of the Tao Te Ching that is touching me at my core. It was written in the 4th century BC and the words are just as prevalent today. It is central to both philosophical and religious Taoism. I found that if I took the above refrain and substituted nature for people it rang just as true for me. Looks hot everywhere so I hope you are staying cool!!

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  • natural areas,  nature,  quotes

    The Great Way

    July 16, 2025
    Soapstone Natural Area – 2020

    The great Way is easy,
    yet people prefer the side paths.
    Be aware when things are out of balance.
    Stay centered within the Tao.

    When rich speculators prosper
    While farmers lose their land;
    when government officials spend money
    on weapons instead of cures;
    when the upper class is extravagant and irresponsible
    while the poor have nowhere to turn-
    all this is robbery and chaos.

    It is not in keeping with the Tao.

    (Tao Te Ching translation by Stephen Mitchell, 1995; Verse 53)

    It began to mist just as I left the condo this morning. I turned the bicycle around and drove the car to the coffee shop, instead. No need for me to be damp, wet and uncomfortable. I’m glad I did as it’s been misting for the past three hours. A lot of things in our world are out of balance and not our checkbooks. I have come to appreciate how my time in nature, meditation, silence, and solitude help me stay centered and balanced at a deep level within me. The paradox, finding inner balance when the world around us is out of balance. Stay centered!

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  • clouds,  landscape,  panorama,  quotes

    …not the way of Tao

    July 5, 2025
    Kryger Reservoir

    To follow the path of Tao does not require extraordinary effort,
    Yet it is easy to be diverted from it.

    Governance and justice are purchased by a relative few,
    As the most powerful in society bathe themselves in disproportionate wealth.
    Poverty, famine, and war point to a corrupt and dishonest system
    maintained by corporate and government collusion.

    Wealth is funneled upward.

    This is known as legal theft.
    It is not the way of Tao.

    Tao Te Ching By Lao Tzu Rendered by: Julian von Bargen, John Braun, Jr., David Warkentin

    This is a 9 image panorama of Kryger Reservoir on the west side of Windsor. This open Space features a 1.5 mile trail that loops around Kyger Reservoir. It is a favorite fishing area for bald eagles. One is perched behind me on large cellular tower as i took these images. I hope you enjoyed your 4th of July.

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  • bicycling,  quotes

    Still processing!

    June 22, 2025

    I took this image on my ride through the CSU Oval for coffee this morning. I have noticed this scene before but this is the first time I stopped to accept the photo. I did enjoy the BBQ yesterday, ate too much, loved time with family and so very grateful for my grandson-in-law’s safe return from his deployment in the Middle East.


    Find contentment within.
    Be aware of how you affect your surroundings.
    Allow freedom to flourish around you.
    Do not impose or dominate.

    This is what it means to be sustainable.

    Tao Te Ching

    I am processing my feelings about this country’s actions taken yesterday. Finding many unanswerable questions running through my mind. How much escalation of hatred have we against Americans? How many more casualties of war have we just brought on? Anyway, there seems to be an extreme attachment to power, control, hatred, and inflated egos. We have proven for centuries that violence against someone (a country or nation) will not cause them to succumb to our will but only harden hearts. I’ve said enough. Still processing and thanks for listening to my ramblings! It has been another hot day here.

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  • Arapaho Bend Natural Area,  clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  poems,  poetry,  sunrises

    The great Way

    August 13, 2023
    Predawn red sky at Arapaho Bend Natural Area

    The great Way is easy,
    yet people prefer the side paths.

    Be aware when things are out of balance.
    Stay centered within the Tao.

    When rich speculators prosper
    While farmers lose their land;

    when government officials spend money
    on weapons instead of cures;

    when the upper class is extravagant and irresponsible
    while the poor have nowhere to turn-

    all this is robbery and chaos.
    It is not in keeping with the Tao.

    Tao Te Ching – Verse 53
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  • quotes

    In harmony with the Tao…

    July 27, 2023

    In harmony with the Tao,
    the sky is clear and spacious,
    the earth is solid and full,
    all creatures flourish together,
    content with the way they are,
    endlessly repeating themselves,
    endlessly renewed.

    when man interferes with the Tao
    the sky becomes filthy,
    the earth becomes depleted,
    the equilibrium crumbles,
    creatures become extinct.

    Lao Tzu

    And to think the Old Sage Laozi or Lao Tzu (Old Master) wrote this around 400 B.C. This translation is from Tao Te Ching: A New English Version by Stephen Mitchell. I believe this to be a juba skipper who was hanging around my ponds, so I shot photographed it. But, I don’t believe I interfered with the Tao.

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