We betray our true self, when we do not follow the hearts desire, for what the heart is attracted to, is your destiny.
Shadows
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Shadows -
Merry Christmas
Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!
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A Cold Front …
Fall Starburst … is on it’s way. Temperature tonight is expected to be in the high 20’s then low 30’s on Tuesday night. But, this past week and the weekend have been gorgeous. Yesterday was 74. Yesterdays sunrise was gorgeous but I only saw it from my bedroom window. Just couldn’t get out the door. Kids on campus wearing, shorts, flip-flops and tank tops. People were biking and playing football at the city park. I took advantage of the weather and made a couple trips to the nature areas. I’m making chili soup today. Stay warm.
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A Foggy Morning Walk
The Cottonwood Tree One of my favorite cottonwood trees surrounded with heavy fog.
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Starting the Day
Starburst Sunrise Paul shared a post about spending 30 minutes in the morning watching the wildlife and the sunrise. He described it as, “quite, cool, peaceful, orange … perfect.” “Perfect” always gets to me. It caused me to remember my early mornings of the past years. After showering and dressing I would spend most mornings reading the “news”. I started my day by filling my head with news about war, local and world crimes, political bull crap. On some pages I could see images of the next car they wanted me to in debt for, or see the competitive prices of potatoes and carrots between the local grocery stores. Then one morning it dawned on me reading the “news” was not the way I needed to start my day. So, I stopped reading the “news”, or watching it, over 20 years ago. And, I don’t miss it.
This past Monday morning one of the regular customers walked in to the coffee shop and wanted to know if we all new the latest news. Seems we had a rowdy weekend in town. Without asking, he passed on his latest “news”. A riot broke out at a large party on a cul-de-sac near campus. Luckily no one was injured. The next “news” he shared was about a shooting where a police officer was shot and wounded and the suspect was killed. This is not how I wanted to start the morning. The news he so desperately wanted to share was bad news and not good news? It seems like 1 in 20 stories in the paper are about good things.
I prefer to spend my mornings in a quiet and contemplative place. I have sacred place in my home where I sit and watch the sun rise. I quietly sip on my personally made latte. I read, journal and enjoy my time. Or, I can find a secluded place outside of town and watch the sunrise. I can listen to the sounds of nature rather than the trash truck. I can feel the coolness or warmth of the air and allow it all to penetrate my soul. With each of these, I feel I’m filling my mind and soul with better images to start the day
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Fall Colors
Colorado Aspens On Tuesday afternoon I drove up Poudre Canyon in search of aspen colors and to get out of town. I was pleasantly surprised to see a few still in good condition and color and I got an extra surprise at Joe Wright Reservoir near Cameron Pass. It was nice with the overcast skies and light rain. I was somewhere around Rustic when the rain began and major wind picked up. I took my time and stopped several times to stretch my legs, take a few photos, stand in the rain and wind and mess up my hair. I could see what looked like heavier rain as I drove farther west and increased in altitude. As you can see I began to see that the higher peaks were covered in snow. Before I reached Joe Wright Reservoir, which is around 10,000 feet in elevation, the rain became sleet then to snow. I had a wonderful time!
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Suspended in Air
Suspended in Air Last nights walk through Rowland Moore Park allowed me to see nature do, what I thought, was a very strange thing. From a distance I noticed a leaf suspended in mid-air. I stopped and moved closer. It looked like a blade of grass had poked through a hole in the leaf and was holding it up. So, I grabbed a photo and continued on my walk. After loading it on the computer and lowering my exposure, I was able to see that the leaf was suspended in the air because it had fallen on a spiderweb. The sensor saw it but my eyes did not. The walk also included a photo of the setting sun bursting through tree branches and couple huge dandelions, everyones favorite flower.
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Respect Our Elders
Cottonwood tree Have you ever just reached out and touched a tree trunk, stopped to touch a leaf or knelt down to just observe a fallen leaf or a broken branch? Have you spent time just looking as intently and as closely as possible? The more time I spend in nature the more I am fascinated with trees whether it is a grove of aspens, poplars along a river bank or a cottonwood standing alone on the horizon. So, my answer to those questions, yes.
As a young boy visiting relatives in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, my cousins and I would go fishing for catfish down on one the creeks. It always seemed like more fun to explore the creek than sit on the bank and watch a red and white bobber float on the muddy water. I ran through the fields catching grasshoppers. I climbed the trees along the creek banks and when tired laid down in the shade they offered. Fond memories for me.
Trees are one of the almost endless miracles of nature. There are unsupported statements that the cottonwood tree dates back to the Cretaceous Period, about 145 million years ago and possibly to the Jurassic Period – 200 million years ago. Makes our lifetime miniscule. I was taught to respect our elders and as I move more towards being an elder myself I grow in my respect for nature as one of my elders.
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Change
Pre-dawn Light I have several images of this tree taken during all four seasons and at different times of the day. This tree lies along a three-quarter mile stretch of dirt road leading to the Arapahoe Bend Nature Area. I’ve been going out there for the past 10 years for quiet time and photography. I’ve seen many a hawk perched on one it’s branches and even an eagle. I like this old tree and what it stands for. Over that ten years I’ve had the chance watch this area change.
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A Tree’s Shadow
A trees shadow on an overcast day “Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day.”
Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
