• landscape,  snow,  winter scenes

    Snow and Cold

    April 17, 2026

    It began snowing just after 8:00 am this morning. At one time the snowflakes were big and beautiful. It’s what you’d expect with a springtime snow and made me smile. It has stopped and this dusting is all we are getting but we so need any moisture we can get. We are not expecting to be above 45 degrees today and it will be below freezing tonight and tomorrow night.

    “I don’t think everyone wants to create the great American novel, but we all have a dream of telling our stories-of realizing what we think, feel, and see before we die. Writing is a path to meet ourselves and become intimate.”

    Natalie Goldberg

    One of the gifts of blogging has been the opportunity to try my hand at writing. It truly has helped me discover who I really am rather than the man wearing an assortment of masks, depending on the stage I think I’m on. As Goldberg suggests I also am not interested in writing a novel, however the daily practice of journaling and regularly posting on this blog has been a good fit for me. So bare with me as I continue on this path.

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  • bicycling,  clouds,  landscape,  quotes,  sunrises

    In the presence of beauty

    April 16, 2026

    The human soul is hungry for beauty; we seek it everywhere – in landscape, music, art, clothes, furniture, gardening, companionship, love, religion and in ourselves. No-one would desire not to be beautiful. When we experience the Beautiful, there is a sense of homecoming. Some of our most wonderful memories are of beautiful places where we felt immediately at home. We feel most alive in the presence of the Beautiful for it meets the needs of our soul.

    John O’Donohue

    What a beautiful morning for a bicycle ride along Spring Creek to Mugs for coffee and wonderful conversation. This is a good time of the year for images like this due to the timing of my ride and the rising of the sun. I’m sharing this image of what I get to experience on these morning rides. Alissia was my barista and an Old Town mocha was my drink. A few clouds have now moved in as a cold front arrives late tonight which I hope brings us moisture in the form of rain and snow early Friday morning. And, both Friday and Saturday nights could be below freezing. I will be okay with that if we also get moisture. May you enjoy this day!

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  • leaves,  quotes,  sky,  trees

    A Summertime Truth

    April 15, 2026

    “Here is a summertime truth: abundance is a communal act, the joint creation of an incredibly complex ecology in which each part functions on behalf of the whole and, in return, is sustained by the whole. Community not only creates abundance – community is abundance. If we could learn that equation from the world of nature, the human world might be transformed”

    Parker J. Palmer

    I have enjoyed this summer-like day. I sat on my porch and journaled this afternoon. A cool breeze blew and enticed the trees to dance with it. I watched two small robins, who I think were juveniles, chasing one another around the old tree stump. I watched two baby squirrels jumping from branch to branch in their game of tag. These simple games most young ones play. A blackbird sang its song from the far edge of the pond. And the geese continue to practice in their attempt at a song, unsuccessfully. As I look up I see the blue sky with puffs of clouds silently and slowly drifting by. For me it was a cool summertime day with an abundance of community around me. I feel my day has been full. I hope your day was a full.

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  • quotes,  shadows

    Warm Sunshine and Shadows

    April 14, 2026

    It has been overcast this morning and possible rain later today. May do a little rain dance shortly in case it can help. I am meeting a few high school classmates for our monthly luncheon today. I really do enjoy these small gatherings. Have a great day!

    Warm morning light and shadows in my bedroom

    Frequently people in power are not as strong as they might wish to appear. Many people who desperately hunger for power are weak. They seek power positions to compensate for their own fragility and vulnerability. A weak person in power can never be generous with power because they see questions or alternative possibilities as threatening their own supremacy and dominance.

    John O’Donohue, Anam Cara
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  • coffee life,  latte art,  musings

    Cost of a latte…

    April 11, 2026

    There is a coffee shop that I have not been to in awhile because they are pricey and on the other side of town. They advertise themselves as serving quality coffee and roast their own beans. I must admit I have enjoyed their espresso roast in their Americano. But one day last week I ordered a 12 oz. mocha and was flabbergasted by the price. It was a good mocha and the latte art was good but sure not worth $7.99. It’s a bit frightening to think that someday I could be priced out of my coffee addiction. Then what? Cuz I sure ain’t going back to work! Well… I hope you enjoy your weekend!

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  • Blossoms,  quotes

    Sense of Wonder

    April 10, 2026

    If I had influence with the good angel who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world would be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life as an unfailing antidote against boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength.

    Rachel Carson
    Crabapple Blossoms

    Seems her suggestion for a sense of wonder for children, as well as adults, is relevant today. I do believe this world would be very different if we all turned away from our phones, computers and televisions and took a walk around the block to experience a sense of the wonder of nature.

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  • musings,  quotes,  shadows

    Early Morning Shadows

    April 9, 2026

    A shadow is never created in darkness.
    It is born of light.
    We can be blind to it and blinded by it.
    Our shadow asks us to look at what we don’t want to see.”

    Terry Tempest Williams

    As a photographer I have been fascinated with shadows for a long time. Similarly I have become fascinated in seeing the shadow side of myself. There are aspects of each of us we do not want to look at nor do we want the world to see and have found ways to hide or disguise that in our shadow. In my youth I was blind to my shadow. Now as I’m older I’m finding it to be an adventure looking at my shadow side, exposing it to the light of awareness and growth, and bringing out the details so that I can uncover who I truly am and allow others to see my authentic and full self. Who knows what gem may be discovered in those shadows for both me and the world. I hope you have had a wonderful day.

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  • bicycle rides,  bicycling,  landscape,  moon,  natural areas,  nature,  quotes

    To See Another View

    April 8, 2026

    “The humble person is open to being corrected, whereas the arrogant is clearly closed to it. Proud people are supremely confident in their own opinions and insights. No one can admonish them successfully… Filled as they are with their own views, the arrogant lack the capacity to see another view.”

    Fr. Thomas Dubay

    It was an amazingly warm morning at 57 degrees when I headed for the coffee shop. I decided to take the Fisher Nature Area then connect to the Spring Creek Trail and was greeted with the moon sitting in the southern sky. So glad I took a different route as it offered me another view. It will be a day for reading and writing, a short meeting with friends at noon then meet a friend at 4 pm. May you enjoy this day and the view it offers!

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  • landscape,  poems,  river,  Yellowstone National Park

    A Simple Prayer

    April 7, 2026

    I would love to live
    Like a river flows,
    Carried by the surprise
    Of its own unfolding.

    John O’Donohue

    This is a sunrise image taken on the Madison River from a road trip in August of 2022. It was my last day of the trip and I was heading home when I saw this scene. I had to stop. It really didn’t matter if I took a photo or not I just needed to experience the moment. This part of the river is calm while both up river and down river there are rapids and surprises. As a metaphor of life there are days when the flow of life is as calm as this river while there are times when it ain’t and we face surprises. I’m learning to be a part of its unfolding. So, this poem is my prayer for today!

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  • Plants,  quotes

    New Life Emerging

    April 5, 2026

    It began as a seedling
    in the darkness of the soil.
    And within that darkness
    was found everything needed
    to emerge as new life.

    mws

    I noticed this plant growing among the rocks and wood chips outside the coffee shop this morning. It seemed fitting for today. Also fitting in my life as it seems after some of the darkest times there has emerged new life. I hope you have a wonderful Sunday.

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