• coffee life,  coffee shops,  quotes

    Asking questions….

    Latte Art

    Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.

    Henry David Thoreau

    I read this past week that we are ‘God’s work of art.’ That is a wonderful concept and I believe there is a lot of truth in that statement. So, it brought up some questions for me to ponder and journal about. What if we are born as a blank canvas and our life’s task is to become a finished unique work of art? What if we are to express our uniqueness through how we live life, how we treat others and all of creation. What if we use our gifts and talents believing we can turn the world around? What if we need to be in union with the creator of life to become that work of art? What if everyone believed our life is a work of art and then lived it to the fullest? I’m asking questions…

    Sun has set and the cold moves in. Hope you had a great Monday!

  • Arapaho Bend Natural Area,  natural areas,  quotes

    A Lover of Nature

    The Native Americans, whose wisdom Thoreau admired, regarded the Earth itself as a sacred source of energy. To stretch out on it brought repose, to sit on the ground ensured greater wisdom in councils, to walk in contact with its gravity gave strength and endurance. The Earth was an inexhaustible well of strength: because it was the original Mother, the feeder, but also because it enclosed in its bosom all the dead ancestors. It was the element in which transmission took place. Thus, instead of stretching their hands skyward to implore the mercy of celestial divinities, American Indians preferred to walk barefoot on the Earth: The Lakota was a true Naturist – a lover of Nature. 

    Frédéric Gros

    As winter approaches and the temperatures become colder, I spend less time in nature. It seems now that on dark predawn mornings warm blankets are a womb I reluctantly want to leave. Maybe it’s old age. Maybe it’s poor circulation. Maybe it’s attitude. Sometimes I tell myself it’s time for someone else to brave a cold morning with camera and tripod in nature. But, I know that my spiritual life includes time in nature so I will still brave those cold mornings and evenings for those divine moments with Mother Earth. I will walk in contact with her and walk in prayer!

  • clouds,  landscape,  sunrises

    We’re Too Impatient

    Monday morning. Martin Luther King Day. So some will sleep in late. Not me. Have this habit of rising early and watching the sun crest the eastern horizon, even on a cold January morning. I don’t seem to tire of that. Predawn offered red and pink in a small area along the horizon. The wind was blowing as I watched the clouds being continually reshaped by that wind.

    I read yesterday where Henry David Thoreau was known to stand for long periods of time while observing a female mallard as she prepared her newly hatched ducklings for their first adventure on the water. At other times he would stand all afternoon watching a frog along the banks of a pond. He spent time in the field studying nature rather than reading or hearing about it. Not something our culture does much anymore. We’re too impatient. Because I stayed this morning I was able to witness the sun rising above the clouds sitting along the eastern horizon. I’m learning patience.

  • coffee shops,  fountain pens,  journal,  lifestyles,  quotes

    Free Coffee?

    Free Coffee
    Free Coffee

    “Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself.” 

    Henry David Thoreau, Walden

    Well, not really as we pay for them somehow. Many coffee shops are setup to offer a discount after 10 or 12 purchases. Some even offer free drinks and food. I’ve never had the nerve to calculate how much money I spend just to have a $2.00 discount or free coffee. And,  I probably won’t! 🙂

  • flowers,  Plants,  quotes

    This Life

    Tulips
    Tulips

    “You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.” ― Henry David Thoreau

  • quotes

    The Treasure of Books

    Books

    “Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations. Books, the oldest and the best, stand naturally and rightfully on the shelves of every cottage.” Walden by Henry David Thoreau