• coffee life,  journal,  latte art,  quotes

    Life comes from living it…

    Things do not make life, life.

    Joan Chittister

    From my own experiences I’m aware that a new fountain pen “will not” make me a better writer, or a wiser person. Yet, I still look. I also know that a new Fujifilm X100VI will not make me a better street photographer, or a wiser person. Yet, I still look. From my own life experiences the simple things I have in life are the real treasures of life. I am doing my best to live my life with less attachments to things and not accumulating more things. Chittister also says that life comes from living it. So, living life today means taking the time to savor the beauty of latte art, enjoying my mocha, and a bit of journaling with the treasures I have.

  • coffee life,  journal,  latte art

    But, then…

    After some precious quiet time, journaling and watching the sunrise at a natural area, I let Isaac make me a mocha latte. As you can see he outdid himself on his artwork, almost too pretty to drink. And, he was grinning from ear-to-ear when he handed it to me. But, then…

    After taking this photo to document his work of art, I bumped the table and sloshed the mocha everywhere. 😳 I was grateful for the saucer as it caught most of the spill and I could pour it back into the cup. He forgave me! It is overcast, cool, and damp after last nights rain. It actually feels refreshing. May you have a wonderful Monday!

  • Creativity,  quotes,  winter scenes

    Where We Become Who We Are

    Creativity is at bottom the combinatorial work of memory and imagination. All of our impressions, influences, and experiences — every sight we have ever seen, every book read, every landscape walked, every love loved — become seeds for ideas we later combine and recombine, largely unconsciously, into creations we call our own. The most wondrous thing about these seeds is that, when they first fall into the fallow ground of the mind, we have no sense of what they will bloom into years, decades, and selves later, what alchemic cross-pollination will take place between them and other seeds in the dark underground of consciousness where we become who we are.

    Maria Popova
  • coffee life,  landscape,  latte art,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes,  sunrises

    There for a reason…

    “There are moments when troubles enter our lives and we can do nothing to avoid them. But they are there for a reason. Only when we have overcome them will we understand why they were there.”

    Paulo Coelho

    It is cold and the wind continues to blow this morning. Made my way to Pineridge Natural Area for the predawn colors. I watched as the wind scattered the ever changing clouds across the canvas sky. I felt within the sense of drama in nature as she constantly reshaped the clouds according to the wind’s whims. I’m now enjoying my mocha latte at Starry Night then will meet Mark for breakfast as he and I continue our fantasy quest of solving the world’s troubles. I say that with tongue-in-cheek as he and I realize changing the world always starts with ourselves. I feel I am finding that facing and overcoming troubles is much more of an adventure than just an unwanted task. In my past I had the tendency to run from them. Now there is more of a desire to learn from the lessons. Just facing them is a lesson. May you have a wonderful day, overcoming any and all problems while learning life’s lessons! Stay warm!

    Hannah’s latte art – Showing off again
  • coffee life,  gratitude,  I am learning...,  latte art,  quotes

    Showing off!

    Understanding of the self only arises in relationship, in watching yourself in relationship to people, ideas, and things; to trees, the earth, and the world around you and within you. Relationship is the mirror in which the self is revealed. Without self-knowledge there is no basis for right thought and action.

    Jiddu Krishnamurti

    Well, Hannah out did herself, showing off again, this morning with her latte art. I wonder sometimes if the reason I order mocha lattes is because of the artwork or because I enjoy their flavor. Think I’ll just go with both!

    We have clear blue skies and temperatures in the high teens but expecting it to warm up into the high 40’s. I love the mornings when the sun shines in my front room window, spreading its light across the floor and furniture. It is something I look forward to it each day. Depending on the time of year also determines the length of time I get to enjoy it.

    Relationships have become a vital learning experience in my life over the past 20 plus years. I am learning how to improve them, how to nurture them and how to build relationships with others who are different from me. I am learning to embrace relationships I would not expect to have, such as all my baristas. I am learning to repair damaged and broken relationships. And with the advent of the internet I’m also learning to embrace virtual relationships. I must also include the relationship I have with God, this unknown HIgher Power, that something I cannot define or comprehend, as well as a renewed relationship with all of creation. And, I am learning to be someone healthy in a relationship. As this year comes to a close I find I have a grateful heart for the gift of relationships in the year. 

  • coffee life,  latte art,  love,  quotes

    I’m still learning

    Had I been given a clear definition of love earlier in my life it would not have taken me so long to become a more loving person. Had I shared with others a common understanding of what it means to love it would have been easier to create love.

    bell hooks

    Like many of us when we were young, love was an object to grasp. As I’ve grown older, gained some experience, love for me is now an action word, no longer an object just out of my reach. I’ve discovered it is a part of my very essence, who I am. I’ve discovered that it asks to be given away without any conditions and without any expectations of receiving anything in return. It’s easy to tell someone I love them and believe I love them but it’s another thing to actually love. Slowly but surely I’m learning about this action word called love.

    As a side note the boots from yesterday’s posted image are no longer there.