• grass,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  Plants,  Reservoir Ridge Natural Area,  snow,  trees

    Mornings Snowfall

    March 7, 2022

    Snow began falling yesterday morning with those big beautiful fluffy snowflakes. The powdery stuff you blow off the car. For some insane reason I decided to hang out in the cold along the foothills between Pineridge Natural Area and Reservoir Ridge Natural Area. First stop was Pineridge Natural Area. Didn’t feel like sitting on the bench but what a view!!

    This is a group of trees just below Pineridge Natural Area. Horsetooth Reservoir and dam are just hidden behind the trees. So often images just do not convey the feeling we are experiencing before us. But, I’ll keep trying.

    This is from the parking lot of Reservoir Ridge Natural Area. I was facing a cold 8 mph wind about this time and the snow began picking up. I also slid through a red light on my way to this area. So glad no one was going through the green light. So, after taking this image I headed to the safety and warmth of home.

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  • clouds,  gratitude,  landscape,  Poudre River,  quotes,  seasons,  winter scenes

    Living This Life

    March 6, 2022

    You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.

    Kahill Gibran

    Many who regularly read my posts are aware of my references to pray and mediation. Both have become integral parts of my life and are how I daily start and end my days.

    But, it hasn’t always been that way. I mainly prayed to the God I was introduced to in my upbringing in times of distress or to ask for my needs and wants to be granted, and many times bargaining. Prayer changed once I let go of that concept of God. I began to read and study about prayer from different faith traditions and authors. I’m still searching for a better grasp of prayer, its purpose and the source of that prayer. I enjoy this search.

    In all honesty, where I’ve grown the most in prayer is by practicing it. Through practice I’ve come to feel that prayer arises from within me rather than something I consciously do or say. It’s very much an internal dialogue. I’ve heard it said prayer is a the longing of the human heart for God, the Divine or whatever name we use. I enter into prayer in many ways. Prayer is spending time in nature, walking along the Poudre River or watching a sunrise. Being grateful at some deep place within me, I find to be prayer. Or the feeling I experience when I take a deep breath and oxygen enters my lungs is prayer. A good conversation with a friend brings a warm feeling and I know there has been some special connection with them, I find to be prayer also. I could go on but….

    I end this by saying I now find prayer to be experiencing joy, gratitude, connection, love, peace, justice and just living this life.

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  • landscape,  natural areas,  Plants,  Reservoir Ridge Natural Area,  seasons,  snow,  winter scenes

    Closer to Nature

    March 5, 2022

    I know this is the second post for the day but thought I’d give a weather report from my small little universe as it’s more enjoyable than the worlds chaotic news. We had a dusting of snow early this morning covering the open fields in white then gone by mid morning. About 2:00 pm the temperature was a nice 32 degrees, snow had let up, so I headed to Reservoir Ridge Natural Area for a bit of prayer and walking meditation. It was quite beautiful, wonderful silence, just what my soul needed. Seems I have needed to be closer to nature the past few days. I only did a couple miles, enough to have cold hands, cold ears and a runny nose. It had begun to snow again by the time I got back to the car. In this image you can see the snow in the foothills while the higher elevations are hidden in snowfall. Hope you are having a good Saturday. Think I’ll enjoy a piece of warm peach pie now. 😊

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  • landscape,  seasons,  snow,  trees,  winter scenes

    Keeping Peace Alive

    February 26, 2022
    More blue skies

    With our our country’s political strife, the pandemic and world violence it is vital for us to keep our inner peace and sanity. So, I wanted to share a question with you that I came across yesterday. I am going to use it as a seed in my meditations and to journal about over the next few days. How are you keeping peace alive in your heart and mind?

    Here are some of my ways: quiet time, prayer and meditation, time with nature, journaling, reading, photography, poetry, early mornings at coffee shops, healthy conversations with friends, daily walks and more… which is pretty much what I do every day. I must admit I’m concerned what impact our worlds insanity has on everyone especially those immediately impacted. It’s demonstrated to me how far reaching our actions have on others. Therefore, whatever simple actions I can do to keep peace within my heart and mind matters. And, I have no idea how my actions or words or prayers can reach out into the universe and positively affect others. Maybe just taking a “one-breath” meditation throughout the day will clear the mind, keeping peace alive in our hearts and minds and the world.

    We may get above 32 degrees today for the first time in 4 days. As my sister would say, I’m esscited!!!!

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  • grass,  landscape,  natural areas,  Plants,  Reservoir Ridge Natural Area,  seasons,  shadows,  snow,  winter scenes

    Another Cold Morning

    February 24, 2022

    sun illuminates
    floating ice crystals
    storm has passed

    ms

    Minus 1 degree this morning and overcast skies at 7:00 am. By 8:30 the clouds gave way to blue sky and sunshine. I drove out to Reservoir Ridge Natural Area to capture the beauty of nature’s wintery scenes. Just before reaching the natural area there is a farm, always with a dozen or so horses. I’ve posted images from this area before. This morning they were being fed fresh hay while two hawks were perched high in the tree tops, also hungry on this cold morning.

    I so loved the blue sky this morning and how it contrasted with the white snow.

    There were almost no tracks in the parking lot of the natural area which means I can find snow scenes without any signs of mans intrusion. It has been almost too cold for anyone to be out and about in it. Having said that I saw a hard core bicyclist riding his fat tire bike this morning on my way home. I plan on staying inside the rest of the day since we are only going to reach a high of 15.

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  • coffee life,  coffee shops,  fountain pens,  journal,  Self-portraits,  writing/reading

    Bitter Cold Morning

    February 22, 2022

    It was 0 (zero) degrees this morning when I left the condo at 6:33 am. As I dusted off the powdery snow from the car I wonder how many neighbors were questioning my sanity. Then I thought about how connected we really are to nature and the part I play in it, how I am bundled up and prepared for the weather, how beautiful this wintery seen is, and most importantly, how good my mocha latte will taste. Yes, there is a bit of insanity in my life. However, there is much less insanity than a few years ago. 😁

    About this image. It was taken by a lovely young lady at Mugs at CSU coffee shop. Unfortunately I failed to get her name so I could give her credit. The overcast sky and light reflecting off the snow gave this a nice light. She did a great job! I want to use it in an ongoing series of images that include myself, the journal, the fountain pen in the act of journaling. I already have images of the journals and pens taken over the years and will continue to add more. But I have very few of them that include me in the act of writing. Some images I can do it with a tripod and timer but this image required another person pressing the shutter button. The purpose is to share why I have been journaling almost daily for over 30 years. Now, if it was just a wee bit warmer, say 70 degrees warmer!!!! Oh, and my toes are cold.

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  • natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area

    Nature Enjoyed It

    February 18, 2022

    My theme for this post is blue. What a beautiful day it was yesterday after the light snow. Even though we had clear skies and sunshine it stayed cold, never getting above freezing. Just loved that blue sky. Both of these images are from an hour at Pineridge Natural Area in the afternoon. It was cold enough I had it pretty much to myself and quiet.

    The one drawback in the bottom image is the smog along the horizon, which is the I-25 corridor. This image reminded me of how clear the skies were in early 2020 when the pandemic shut so much down. Deep inside me is the wish we could have everything shut down again. Say a couple centuries to clear up the air. Just a thought or wish. The quality time I spent in the local natural areas was so sweet… And, I want to believe nature enjoyed it also. Sigh!

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