• fall season,  leaves,  quotes

    Masterwork of Wisdom

    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.

  • fall season,  leaves

    Remind me of me

    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!

  • fall season,  leaves,  quotes

    Yet, I continue to try…

    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! 😁

  • fall season,  leaves,  Plants,  seasons

    Telling on Myself

    I’m telling on myself. Thursday morning I took a few images at Pineridge Natural Area of the predawn light. I did not shoot many images, making 7 compositions, placing the horizon in the various locations in the frame. When I loaded them on the computer at home they were all underexposed. I then discovered I had set the camera in manual mode yesterday and never checked the exposure. I made a critical assumption the camera would take care of everything, all I had to do was make the composition. Wrong. Way too much dependance on the camera and not checking my settings!

    A lot of seasonal changes are taking place here in Colorado. As the nights get longer and there’s less sunlight, leaves stop making chlorophyll, losing their green colors, some change to yellow, orange, red, brown and gray. These leaves will freeze in winter, so the trees are letting go, allowing them to decompose and restock the soil with nutrients for next spring. I love this time of the year and this process of dying to renew life.

    I attended my 55th class reunion dinner last night and enjoyed catching up with them. One facet of reunions is finding out more have died than I knew about. Just the same we get to reminisce about our youth. I’m leaving a few minutes to attend today’s picnic. I am finding it interesting how little I really knew about my classmates and the erroneous assumptions I had about them in high school. And that is also true of how they perceived me. Many thought they didn’t fit in. Just like me! Fascinating to me.

  • fall season,  leaves,  Metro Parks,  Plants,  quotes,  seasons

    Sometimes They’re Even Good!

    Leaves found on a walk at Blendon Woods Metro Park – 2011

    While I often try to anticipate those things that may occur in my little world, there’s always a surprise or two, and sometimes they’re even good!

    Earl Moore

    Wanted to share these words of wisdom from a comment our friend Earl made on one of my posts. He is referring to surprises in life, those wanted and not wanted. I am currently finding surprises in my life that at first seem unwanted but in some ways have turned out to be good. He has reminded me of that. His words also reminded me of the fondness I have for those surprises we can find in our photography. For me they happen most often when I venture out in nature with my camera, open to what my heart can see and accept. While living in Ohio for two and a half years I was able to experience trees and plants I was not familiar with. I loved what I was seeing and experiencing for the first time. As I reflect back it was on these walks when I first began to ask the questions: What surprise is nature going to offer me today? What will I expect and accept? You never know, sometimes they’re even good!

  • fall season,  leaves,  Plants,  quotes,  seasons

    Beautiful Nature

    Maple leaves from 2006

    “Nature is beautiful because it looks like Art; and Art can only be called beautiful if we are conscious of it as Art while yet it looks like Nature.”

    Immanuel Kant

    It was 23 degrees this morning at 7:02 am as I left the condo. Snow then began falling around 8:00 am. Intermittently big flakes then soft delicate snowflakes. I sat in my bedroom looking out the bay window as the artist created. It is lovely to my soul. It is also bringing much needed moisture to our thirsty soil. I checked the temperature about 2:16 pm and it said we’re still at 23 degrees but feels like 17 degrees. I’ll agree and it will only get colder! It’s expected to snow all night. I know the image does not depict the weather here but it is beautiful art made by nature. And, this is a second post about the beauty of nature.

    I finished a couple of blurb books that I’ve been working on for awhile. I ordered one each for a look-see copy today. Nothing fancy but small 7×7 size and on subjects I like, Twilight and Journaling. They are for me and will go on my bookshelf.

    I tested negative this morning for covid as I was exposed again this past Sunday. 👍

  • fall season,  Plants,  quotes,  seasons,  trees

    Imagination

    “The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity… and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.”

    William Blake

    The only constant is change and this morning was a prime example. It’s all worked out and been a good day. Have new chair for my bedroom that sits looking out my bay window and will use it for my quiet times, reading and journaling. Fits my buttocks! 😂 The above photo was taken on campus this past week. Love my tree friends! Now that the leaves are mostly gone we can see where the squirrels nests are. On my walk I smiled as leaves danced along side me in the wind. I am not taking my laptop to Phoenix this week so you will have a reprieve from my blog posts for four days. Have a great week.