An online journal sharing my interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, spirituality and asking deep questions.
sitting quietly at a table
ms
solitary, head bowed
a coffee and scone
lost in his thoughts
without speaking with him
I created my stories, was he
remembering the past
dreaming of tomorrow, praying?
yet, only he can tell his story.
as I sat alone at my table
with my journal and camera
I began to wonder what stories
about me do others create?
the barista’s craft
ms
carefully pouring steamed milk
grin of success
I have wondered at times where coffee baristas go after making my life a bit more enjoyable? Seems there is always a turnover as many work at these jobs for some short period of time. I find many are college students studying to be a writer, artist, school teacher, archaeologist, forester and more. For many it’s usually not a fulltime job but provides spending money and can be a lot of fun for them. This young lady was not only my barista but also a budding photographer. I took this five years ago and hope she is still grinning and successful.
“Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.”
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Contrivance? Now that is a big word for me. So, I had to look it up. It means: “deliberately created rather than arising naturally or spontaneously.” For the image above, the microsecond after pressing the shutter button this scene was gone, never to exist as it was in that one moment of time. I see that as a gift given for a short period of time so I must accept it at that moment.
It’s -1 degree right now. Not expecting it to be above 10 degrees until Tuesday. We also have a dusting of snow. Stay warm!
I’ve never been too excited about Halloween and that’s true today. However, I know that there are many who feel differently and celebrate the day with enthusiasm and style. I’m making another assumption but with masks as a requirement for much of the world we probably will see more people dressed down from previous years, or not. Anyway, enjoy your Saturday and the candy corn pieces.
No landscape images this morning. Instead I’m going to post a couple of images of Tom and Kathy Dills from the short visit we had. Pretty impressive smiles from both of them considering the road miles they have put in. Driving from North Carolina to the northwest coast and back is not the same as a jaunt to the grocery store. And, include a pandemic and the fact most of the west coast seems to be on fire and you can understand the task they took on. This was yesterday morning at the newly opened Chicken Coop, a American Mexican restaurant nearby.
They arrived Sunday afternoon. After connecting up we drove to the Pineridge Natural Area and then to Reservoir Ridge Natural Area where we took a short walk to the rock. This is a location I enjoy because of the quiet and solitude I can experience. At the present time it’s not as quiet because they’re using the open field south of the natural area as a staging area for the helicopters battling the Cameron Peak fire. Kathy tried sitting on the uncomfortable rock and agreed it’s purpose is not long term sitting. They left yesterday morning and expect to arrive in Charlotte on Thursday. It was a short visit but hopefully there will be more opportunities.
On one of my walks at Dixon Reservoir I noticed this man just getting started with some fishing. The rising sun offered me a wonderful silhouette so I paused, took a deep breath, composed, took five images. Probably three too many but what the heck. For me the mood of this image tells a story about this man’s love for fishing.
My bicycle ride to and from Mugs coffee shop takes me across the campus of Colorado State University. I was surprised this morning at the number of parents dropping off students at dorms. I’ll guess 90% were wearing masks but I imagine that will change when mom leaves. It also brought more awareness of the vast differences we have in our attitudes towards this pandemic. What the heck, maybe these freshman need to become fishermen, standing six feet a part. Yes, I know, I’m thinking out loud again.
This image was taken last fall when campus was still open and students were in classrooms. Some would call it normal, but was it? I’m sitting in my bedroom looking out at overcast skies and a bright but diffused sun. The robins awoke me before dark with their gentle song. I must say it’s much better than waking to an alarm. Not much on my mind this morning, foggy thinking. Have a great Friday and upcoming weekend.