• clouds,  grass,  landscape,  Plants,  quotes

    Indigenous

    Cumulus clouds in the distance

    “… becoming Indigenous to a place means living as if your children’s future mattered, to take care of the land as if our lives, both material and spiritual, depended on it.”

    Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass

    I have places inside and outside of the city that are sacred to me. I do not have civil ownership to them but I visit them because this is where I find quiet, solitude and regeneration. I cannot think of one place I visit where the hand of man has not trashed it in some way with beer cans, whiskey bottles, old tires, mattresses, chairs, cigarette butts, etc. It is a sign of how little we know about caring for our world, and those we share this land with or ourselves. I believe the care for the land must start with me.

  • clouds,  landscape,  mountains,  rants,  writing/reading

    Disdain

    Afternoon along County Roads 13 and 96
    Afternoon along County Roads 13 and 96

    Tom will recognize this spot as we visited it while he and Kathy were in Colorado. As I’ve mentioned before I head east of town when the city noise begins to cloud my thinking. It seems that’s happening much more often, too. I took this yesterday afternoon.

    I was disappointed. I stopped at two separate locations where I enjoy taking in the view and the silence. At my first stop someone had dumped a full size couch with two tires on it. They left it half on the road and half in the ditch. No respect! At the second location, where this image was taken, the owners have blocked the turnoff with a half dozen tires. Scattered around were empty booze bottles and trash. I can see why they want to block the turnout. Instead of coming out here to this place in nature and bringing back the peace and serenity it offers, they bring the chaos and disorder of the city and trash it. I can’t even come up with words to describe my disdain for this. My anger is not directed towards the people who trashed both locations but is directed towards our throw away culture. I’m going to need to work through this today. Enjoy the long weekend!

  • Documentary/Street,  quotes

    Why?

    Why?

    I do not think the measure of a civilization
    is how tall its buildings of concrete are,
    But rather how well its people have learned to relate
    to their environment and fellow man.

    Sun Bear of the Chippewa Tribe
  • Canon Powershot G12,  Documentary/Street

    They weren’t even close

    Found on the street

    “The ultimate test of man’s conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard.”— Gaylord Nelson former governor of Wisconsin, co-founder of Earth Day

    I smoked from about the age of 18 to 28. I quit a thousand times before I was able to quit the habit. During that time I tossed many butts out car windows and along the sidewalks. Yes, I’m guilty! At this point in my life I’m more aware of my responsibility in cleaning up my act. It requires an effort by all of us to provide a clean place to live for future generations. I can see we are making a difference. Yet, some people still miss their mark. I found this cigar about 50 feet from the nearest trash receptacle. They weren’t even close.

  • Cityscapes/Urban,  Documentary/Street

    Stogie

    Stogie

    Here is something else someone has decided to toss away (wherever “away” is). Found this stogie on one of my morning walks around my hotel. We see lots of cigarette butts but I don’t come across many used stogies. It’s isolation on the sidewalk set it apart. This image brings a question to mind, “Why do we think that tossing our trash to the ground means it will go away?”

    I’m back in the air again as of yesterday. I’ve not been taking my laptop with me so I’m not on line as often. I do apologize to all of you who I follow or follow me if I’m not keeping up with the blogging.