• fog,  landscape,  Plants,  quotes,  snow,  trees

    Look with open eyes

    “Zen is less the study of doctrine than a set of tools for discovering what can be known when the world is looked at with open eyes.”

    Jane Hirshfield, The Heart of Haiku

    I was surprised to see the dusting of snow and fog this morning. So I took the long-cut to the coffee shop via Stuart Street to visit the cottonwood tree at the Fisher Nature Area Trail. If you look closely you will see a red tailed hawk in the top of the cottonwood. Fog has burned off as blue sky and sunshine make their appearance. Have a wonderful Saturday and look with open eyes!

  • Black and White,  grass,  natural areas,  Plants

    Time in Nature

    From a weekend walk at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area

    “Nature, too, supports our personal blossoming (if we have any quiet exposure to her) through her spontaneities, through her beauty, power, and mirroring, through her dazzling variety of species and habitats, and by way of the wind, Moon, Sun, stars, and galaxies.”

    Bill Plotkin

    It is a desire of mine to spend more time in nature. Hopefully, you already knew that. It is now obvious to me how deep these roots of solitude with and in nature have always been present. There is an awareness, also, that the more time I spend in the natural world, the more I desire to be there. My condo of bricks and sticks is not where I want to spend my life. It has provided a place of comfort but at a price. For many the house is all they need and want. Our culture stresses that. I’m not one of them. There is a desire to blossom. Have a great day and wonderful week!

  • Art,  lifestyles,  natural areas,  trees

    Sprinkling of Hearts

    A sprinkling of hearts to cheer the heart

    I found these two hearts in the trunk of a large cottonwood tree along Fisher Nature Area a couple days ago. Since then I have found several others. I’m not sure but I think it is peoples way of saying thanks to first responders and front line health workers. Or, just passing along some love.

  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  trees

    I’m ready now…

    A favorite cottonwood tree along FIsher Nature area leading to Rowland Moore Park. I often find Red-tailed hawks perched in it.

    I have been pretty good about taking my camera for daily walks during this stay-at-home order. Even got in the walks the past two days when it was snowing and cold, admittedly shorter. And the weather forecasters are telling us more snow, 3-8 inches, by Thursday. Enough already. Bring on spring, rain, thunderstorms, flowers, weeds and sunny walks. I’m ready now!

  • leaves,  natural areas,  poetic journal,  writing/reading

    Notes from this mornings walk…

    Cottonwood leaf from this morning’s walk

    Walked the dirt path at the Fisher Nature Area this morning
    I wanted to have my feet touch Mother Earth, not concrete.

    Heard Blue Jays chasing one another with their raucous calls,
    unintelligible gibberish, sounds angry. We don’t need that.

    And, the chickadees with their simple “fee-bee” calls,
    one heard over here, then one over there, social distancing?

    A woodpecker drumming on some distant tree
    They pause, listening for insects, then drum on.

    Can’t miss the two joggers in their bright colored running gear,
    then meet half dozen dogs walking their humans, on a leash.

    With overcast skies, patches of blue and diffused light, and one
    cottonwood leaf still holding on, made for a great start my day.

     

  • Creativity,  grass,  lifestyles,  natural areas,  Plants,  quotes

    Snow is in the forecast

    Backlit grass on my walk along Fisher Nature Area

    “Recently, photography has become almost as widely practiced an amusement as sex and dancing – which means that, like every mass art form, photography is not practiced by most people as an art. It is mainly a social rite, a defense against anxiety, and a tool of power.” Susan Sontag

    Interesting to note that she wrote this back in 1973.