My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and asking deep questions.
A simple lifestyle is quite simply an act of solidarity with the way most people have lived since the beginnings of humanity.
Richard Rohr
It takes a lot of gumption this time of year to photograph sunrise scenes. because that sun comes up too early. So, I again missed this morning’s sunrise. I realize the powers that be who decided daylight savings was a good idea were not photographers. Anyway here is a sunrise from May of 2020 at Arapaho Bend Natural Area.
Until we understand what the land is, we are at odds with everything we touch. And to come to that understanding it is necessary, even now, to leave the regions of our conquest – the cleared fields, the towns and cities, the highways – and re-enter the woods. For only there can a man encounter the silence and the darkness of his own absence. Only in this silence and darkness can he recover the sense of the world’s longevity, of its ability to thrive without him, of his inferiority to it and his dependence on it. Perhaps then, having heard that silence and seen that darkness, he will grow humble before the place and begin to take it in – to learn from it what it is.
Wendell Berry
Twenty years ago in May of 2004 I made a motorcycle trip to the Badlands for a few days of tent camping and photography. It was my first trip there and I loved it. The vistas, the rugged landscape (they call it Badlands for a good reason), the silence, the sheer beauty, all left a permanent imprint on me. I distinctly remember the experience of silence! Every once in a while I feel the pull to return and experience its presence one more time. But I also want to return because I need time away from the chaos of what Berry calls the “the regions of our conquest.” I can also say this about other places of nature I’ve experienced, including the local natural areas. I wonder if that pull is because of our one-on-one encounter with nature, the silence and the darkness? And who knows, maybe the whisper I hear is nature calling me. What will I learn when I return?
“Wherever you are, you are one with the clouds and one with the sun and the stars you see. You are one with everything. That is more true than I can say, and more true than you can hear.”
Shunryu Suzuki
Light rain moved into the area yesterday afternoon and is hanging out along the front range. Snow is falling in the high country. We need it all. I have friends living in a Class A RV who arrived in Estes Park earlier in the week. They could see as much as a foot of snow up there. The rain has been gentle and refreshing, the best kind to recieve. Just before the rain began I spent some time journaling at Reservoir Ridge. Before I left the clouds began to build up produce lightning and thunder then rain. The rain has been steady every since.
A dark bank of clouds looking like they were full of rain sat on the eastern horizon on my drive to meet Eric for coffee and conversation this morning. It was another reason to stop the car and stand in the rain for a few minutes. Our forecast is to see this all day. So it’s a day to stay inside sit back in a comfy chair, read, journal and binge on some unhealthy snacks (chips, cookies, chocolates).
“I close my eyes and listen to the voices of the rain.”
Robin Wall Kimmerer
The wind blows in my face. Mesmerized, I watch, listen and accept the day’s gift from nature. I am privileged and grateful to have this front row seat. I watch the sun’s rays break through clouds, reaching down and touching the earth. I watch rain fall from the dark ominous clouds releasing their gift that nourishes the land. I watch the wind constantly reshaping the clouds, carrying them along the mountains. I watch the grass dancing excitedly in the wind in front of me. I am too far away to hear the voices of the rain but I do close my eyes and listen to the voice of the wind, urging me to dance with the grass. How can I not be filled with awe and wonder, holding them tightly on this Earth Day 2024.
A Prayer on Earth Day 2024
We give thanks for Your gifts of awe, wonder and beauty.
For Your voice heard in the winds of each season,
the meadowlark’s song, the rumble of thunderstorms,
the undulations of the ocean’s waves,
the silence heard in a spring snowstorm,
and especially for the fruits of Your bounty
that sustains all of life.
May we always be aware there are no political solutions
to our spiritual problem of indifference and the abuse we cause.
But may we know we are chosen stewards,
whose task it is to live in harmony with all of creation.
May we live every day in celebration and gratitude of life!
May we allow You to transform us in the very ground of our being.
And, may the Great Mystery of all life fill us with love.
mws
I just finished reading a second book by George N. Wallace. I mentioned his other book here, which was a collection of poems and essays. This book I just finished is all poetry, Enjoying the Work. I have found his writing humorous, while at times causing tears to well up in my eyes, and he does not use metaphors that cause me to wander off in stray thoughts as I try to figure out what he is saying. In his introduction he writes how poetry is therapeutic, helping him to see the beauty of an approaching thunderhead, it also mercifully dilutes the bile arising as one witnesses injustices, or ecological wounding, and hopefully permitting wisdom, love and clear-eyed resistance to prevail. I found it an easy read for me. He inspires me to write. I am thankful for his gift in words. I’ll buy his next book when it comes out.
Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything – anger, anxiety, or possessions – we cannot be free.
Thich Nhat Hanh
I had a peaceful quiet time at home then things went downhill… When I arrived at Pineridge Natural Area there was a car sitting crossways into the area entrance. It was a young couple there to watch the predawn and sunrise, and couldn’t blame them. However, they did not move so to get in I needed to go around. There was enough room but it meant I would need to drive at the edge of the road and through a couple of potholes created during our last rain. It was all manageable. A half hour later as I left for the coffee shop they were still sitting there and the car was still running. First resentment I needed to let go of! Driving to the coffee shop someone in a new Audi wanted me to get to the coffee shop quicker than I wanted, so I let them go around me. They were sitting there waiting for me at the stoplight. Second resentment I needed to let go of! When I arrived at the coffee shop my laptop would not allow me to reach my website, however my phone could. Technology had me flustered again. Third resentment I needed to let go of. I looked at my watch, it was only 8:21 am. Sigh! On the positive side, we are expecting some much needed rain today. And, with the purpose of being a student of life and desiring to live with freedom, it seems to be starting out as a day for teaching me lessons on letting go. I did enjoy the predawn colors at the natural area (once I got in). Have a wonderful Friday!!
Billy Collins writes in his poem, Under the Stars, that “pissing is a form of meditation…(it’s) what we were designed to do.” I’m not sure how many people would associate pissing as a form of meditation, but it does does make you think…
In the summer of 2016, something I was designed to do, and what the British refer to as the waterworks, stopped. After a trip to the ER, a visit to the Urologist who did surgery (bit of plumbing work), the waterworks are working again. I now have a greater appreciation of how wonderfully our bodies are made, plus a lot of gratitude when they function properly and of course plumbers. This past week as I stood on the side of County Road 90 I needed to practice this form of meditation he mentions in the poem. I must confess it felt good to stand there watching those clouds and meditating. And, with a stretch of the imagination you might even say I was having a spiritual experience! 
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, to feel alone or want to be alone is deeply unfashionable: to admit to feeling alone is to reject and betray others, as if they are not good company, and do not have entertaining, interesting lives of their own to distract us, and to actually seek to be alone is a radical act; to want to be alone is to refuse a certain kind of conversational hospitality and to turn to another door, and another kind of welcome, not necessarily defined by human vocabulary.
David Whyte
I like solitude. Yet, I also need contact with people, which is one of the primary reasons why I include coffee life with my mornings. Yesterday was a funky day inside my head. Felt frustrated, restless, irritable, even lost. I wanted to be left alone. So, through habit or need, I chose to find a place in nature. So, I spent time with the meadowlarks, the silent clouds, the whisper of the wind, and my good friend, this solitary tree I visit on a regular basis. The setting sun casts a warm glow over the grass. My funk faded and a calm settled within me, but sure it will return at another opportune time. I’m glad I’m unfashionable and turned to another door! Hope everyone stays warm and dry. I awoke during the night with a sore throat and now have a niche little head cold. It will be a day for rest and soup.