My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and asking deep questions.
We moved from being a part of nature to being apart from nature.
David Attenborough
Most of the trails in the Natural Areas are closed due to wet and muddy conditions from this gentle rain we have been enjoying the past three of days. And, not much more to say about the clouds that this image doesn’t say. Green dominates the eyes, especially when it is wet. I enjoy being a part of nature!
Most mornings I’m up to see the sun, and that rising of the light moves me very much, and I’m used to thinking and feeling in words, so it sort of just happens. I think one thing is that prayer has become more useful, interesting, fruitful, and … almost involuntary in my life. And when I talk about prayer, I mean really … what Rumi says in that wonderful line, “there are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”
Mary Oliver
This scene is the predawn light at Pineridge Natural Area from four years ago. It is not the same scene this morning as we have overcast skies and a steady mist. Everything is soaked and we may see 2-3 more days of this. I like this quote by Mary Oliver as it resonates with my life experience of prayer. The wrote prayer of my childhood has been “let go” which in turn has allowed prayer to become what it is in my life. And, like her it has become involuntary in my life. I find prayer of gratitude rising within me throughout my day. And when I am present to a morning sunrise it is almost always a prayer of gratitude. Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!
How good it is to pray to God and meditate in the meadows amidst the grass and the trees. When one goes out to the meadows to pray, every blade of grass, every plant and flower enter into his prayers and help him, putting strength and force into his words.
Rabbi Nachman of Breslav
I drove to Reservoir Ridge Natural Area yesterday afternoon to journal but that’s not what happened. Instead I watched and listened. The the air was full of birds and their songs of prayer. And, the grass in the meadow was making music and praying with the wind. I never touched the journal but watched and listened to the concert of songs and whispers of prayers for about 45 minutes. It had to be afternoon prayers.
And today is my youngest sisters 70th birthday. Happy Birthday, Sheree!
Just as the Earth has a rhythm, and the seasons do as well, so all of us, I think, profit in leading some sort of rhythmic existence that goes with the flow and keeps pace with the lovebeats of the heart. That’s what everything ultimately reduces to – love is at the core of what really matters.
Robert Lax
And, if love is at the core of what really matters then I wonder what would our world look like if people believed that and lived it?
The truth is: the natural world is changing.
David Attenborough
And we are totally dependent on that world.
It provides our food, water and air.
It is the most precious thing we have and we need to defend it.
The book of nature is a fine and large piece of tapestry rolled up, which we are not able to see all at once, but must be content to wait for the discovery of its beauty, and symmetry, little by little, as it gradually comes to be more and more unfolded.
Robert Boyle
It is a cool and overcast morning here in Colorado. Almost no wind as can be seen in the calm waters at Riverbend Ponds. The leaves are unfolding, and the trees no longer looking barren, as we move into summer weather. May you have a wonderful weekend.
For the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth – that Love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.
Viktor E. Frankl
This is graduation week so I decided to run away to Weld County this afternoon and look for storm clouds, trees and less traffic. I found all three! I am rather confident that salvation of man is not through violence, wealth, power, self interest, and consumerism. Through love and in love sounds like a better solution. I will assume you recognize this cottonwood tree as it is one of my favorite models. She’s always there. Same spot, too. All of her new leaves were waving excitedly at me in the breeze.
This beautiful field of sunflowers is now a high school with a huge parking lot, three baseball fields, a half dozen tennis courts, and a massive football stadium. And, directly behind me is over a mile of houses (Starting in the low $400s the signs say). Along with the houses comes buried sewer lines, water lines, gas lines, electrical lines, paved streets, concrete sidewalks, all required infrastructure needing years of constant maintenance against nature’s attempt to reclaim it’s world. And there’s a quick stop place for our gas guzzling cars and to purchase unhealthy foods. For such a large area it would be almost impossible to actually touch the earth as most of it is covered with concrete and asphalt.. The farmer that previously owned this field would alternate the sunflowers with onions yearly. Personally, I preferred the sunflowers over the onions but I will take the onions over what is now there. Saturday morning on my way to meet Eric for coffee I realized how much I miss those sunflowers, even the onions.