• Family,  leaves,  quotes

    Presence of the Divine

    November 17, 2023
    Frost on leaves last week

    Meister Eckhart said that nothing in the universe resembles God so much as silence, so if you think about silence in that sense, then to come into silence is to come into the presence of the Divine.

    John O’Donohue

    I head back to Colorado tomorrow and have enjoyed my time with family. We have had overcast skies and a couple of light rains while down here. Right now I am sitting on their huge patio and enjoying one another’s presence, while quail and cactus wrens offer their songs. Will finished the day with ice cream from Handel’s.

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  • fall season,  leaves,  quotes

    Masterwork of Wisdom

    November 13, 2023

    To know how to grow old is the masterwork
    of wisdom, and one of the most difficult
    chapters in the great art of living.

    Henri Frédéric Amiel

    I remember the moment distinctly. I had ordered a sandwich and then questioned the price as it seemed too low. The response was, “I gave you the senior discount.” Wait a minute! What just happened? It took a second to pull myself together then accept the discount but the words left their mark somewhere deep within me. I’ve had time to ponder those words and I realize I had just passed over some unseeable line and into a stage of life I knew nothing about. It was a strange land I was not ready or prepared for.

    Gratefully I’ve come to see things with older and more seasoned eyes and a spattering of wisdom. I am learning to accept living in this stage of life’s journey and it’s gifts of wonder, awe, surprises, moments of joy, and the strength and courage to face life’s difficulties. I’m also discovering the aches and pains of an aging body that comes with this new territory. I’m coming to know how to grow old rooted in the masterwork of wisdom. Even though it can be difficult at times I find the learning to be one of life’s greatest adventures. I’m enjoying this chapter of my life and the art of living it.

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  • leaves,  quotes

    A Simple Walk

    November 12, 2023

    For all the great thoughts I have read
    For all the deep books I have studied
    None has brought me nearer to Spirit
    Than a walk beneath shimmering leaves.

    Steven Charleston
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  • fall season,  leaves

    Remind me of me

    November 10, 2023
    Taken while waiting for the bus.

    I would say that 80-90% of the leaves have let go of the mother tree and moved on to the next phase of life. And, every year I’m intrigued from a photographer’s perspective to see the few leaves who seem to want to hold on. Maybe it’s because they remind me of me. They remind me of my tendency to hang on when letting go of my unhealthy habits, traits, and thinking was a better option. Hard lessons have taught me that letting go allows us to experience new adventures in life. I would say that at this Fall Season of my life I am learning to let go and live the next phase of life. Truly, it has become an adventure! 

    We are cold at 23 degrees. Took the bus to campus and now sipping on a mocha at the Lory Student Center. Have a wonderful Friday!

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  • fall season,  leaves,  quotes

    Yet, I continue to try…

    November 5, 2023
    Leaf outside the coffee shop

    “The fact that religions through the ages have spoken in images, parables, and paradoxes means simply that there are no other ways of grasping the reality to which they refer.”

    Niels Bohr

    Seems my feeble attempt at finding the words and images of what I see regularly falls short of expressing the reality of what I experience. I saw this leaf outside the coffee shop this morning and was taken by its simplicity and beauty. I excitedly took a few images but was not satisfied with what I saw on my LCD or my monitor. Primarily because the image cannot express or grasp what I experienced. It reminds me of that idiom, “Ya had to be there to actually experience it (reality).” And yet, I will continue to try with both images and words…

    Yes, this is my second posting today since it is my blog! 😁

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  • leaves,  love,  poems,  shadows,  snow

    … and never looks away

    October 30, 2023
    A small part of our amazing winter wonderland this morning

    I stand in the midst of creation’s wheel
    And watch in wonder the quiet majesty of its turning.
    We are in the care of a love without limit or definition
    Under the protection of a love that never looks away.

    Steven Charleston

    It is Monday morning and we have fresh snow on the ground, clear blue skies and sunshine. I am grateful to be a witness to this beautiful winter wonderland. Today I am missing my mother who would have been 92 today. I also can say I miss her with a love that is without limits. Not sure I would have said that as a teenager which makes me grateful for my growing maturity. I’m also grateful for the belief that there is a caring love (and I speak of love as an action word, not a noun) that never looks away. I have experienced such love in family, friends and nature. So, I pray today for the gift of sharing with a love I’ve experienced which is without limits and never looks away. 

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  • leaves,  quotes

    … what is done in love

    October 27, 2023

    “Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well.”

    Vincent Van Gogh

    Every fall, the leaves of deciduous trees undergo a dramatic color change before forfeiting their newfound hues, fading to brown and dying. It’s a process all of nature takes on. Needles and leaves that fall decompose and restock the soil with nutrients and make up part of the spongy humus layer of the forest floor that absorbs and holds rainfall. Fallen leaves also become food for numerous soil organisms vital to the forest ecosystem. That is some of the science of why leaves fall but as a photographer I am drawn to the shapes and colors of fallen leaves. They offer a promise for more life. What a gift of love these leaves offer.

    It is our coldest morning this fall at 24 degrees. It is still dark and with the cold I have that thought of going back to bed. Yet there is day ahead with possible adventures. What will it bring? I’ll start by seeing what I can find at a coffee shop.

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