• Mary Oliver,  poems,  poetry

    Love as never before…

    Yesterday’s mornings predawn colors over Dixon Reservoir

    Be still, my soul, and steadfast.
    Earth and heaven both are still watching
    though time is draining from the clock
    and your walk, that was confident and quick,
    has become slow.

    So, be slow if you must, but let
    the heart still play its true part.
    Love still as once you loved, deeply
    and without patience. Let God and the world
    know you are grateful.
    That the gift has been given.

    May Oliver, The Gift

    I’m beginning to accept aging as more of a constant companion than someone to avoid. Nor do I live in a fantasy that it will go away. Aging now walks with me every day and walk at that slower pace. Some days I feel the grief of losing that walk that was confident and quick in my life, as Mary says in her poem. Yet, in this season of my life I am grateful for the gift of the life which has been given. What a gift it is to slow down, be present to life, fully experience and enjoy it. So my simple prayer this morning is that I may love as never before. The world needs more love! Why not let a spark begin with me.

    I began a crock pot of 15 bean soup this morning. Well there are more than 15 beans in it, which will be ready about 1:00 pm if you wanna come over. May you have a wonderful day, filled with a heart of gratitude!

  • Arapaho Bend Natural Area,  landscape,  natural areas,  poems,  poetry,  quotes,  sunrises,  writing/reading

    Whoever that may be

    In the late summer season of life, I found
    authors, guides, and teachers who have made me
    aware of the gift of my wandering soul and spirit
    within my own inner landscape.

    With no knowledge of an inner landscape
    I went seeking in the enticing outer landscape
    yet this wandering soul and spirit of mine
    was never satisfied, never fulfilled, always lost

    Now in my winter season of life
    my soul and spirit wander my inner landscape
    seeking the Unknowable,
    that source of life,
    Whatever and
    Whoever that may be.

    mws

    I’ll end this with a thought from C.G. Jung, suggesting that our wandering has and is the thirst of our being for wholeness, expressed in medieval language: the union with God.

  • Arapaho Bend Natural Area,  clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  poems,  poetry,  reflections,  sunrises,  writing/reading

    The Power of Practice

    To live a life grounded in God
    you don’t need information;
    you need to be informed by
    the spark of divine presence
    you always carry within you.
    But you’ll have to practice
    this, with concentration,
    like you would if you were
    learning a skill or art.

    Meister Eckhart’s Book of Darkness & Light

    To grow in this craft of photography requires practice. At the present moment I have over 90,000 images in my archives. A rough guess would be that less than 5% of them are good images. I’ll define good as images I’d want to print, frame or sell. And, I post many images on this blog that I would not define as good but want to share them anyway. There is something about them I like. Which means I have a large number of keepers that are lessons and teachers. The lessons they teach may not be something I understand while looking at the image on my computer. Some lessons may be unconscious and only known or understood until I’m in the field and something intuitive, that spark within me, tells me to change my composition or some technical aspect of my equipment. And, that is the lesson practice offers!

    This morning’s clouds, predawn colors and reflections at Arapaho Bend Natural Area were a good way for me to start this day. My only hiccup was making an 8 ounce pour-over rather than a 12 ounce pour-over. 😂 I hope you also have a good day in whatever you do!

  • horizons,  landscape,  mountains,  Plants,  poems,  poetry,  sunsets,  trees

    I like that…

    I, who live by words, am wordless when
    I try my words in prayer. All language turns
    To silence. Prayer will take my words and then
    Reveal their emptiness. The stilled voice learns
    To hold its peace, to listen with the heart
    To silence that is joy, is adoration.
    The self is shattered, all words torn apart
    In this strange patterned time of contemplation
    That, in time, breaks time, breaks words, breaks me,
    And then, in silence, leaves me healed and mended.
    I leave, returned to language, for I see
    Through words, even when all words are ended.

    I, who live by words, am wordless when
    I turn me to the Word to pray. Amen.

    Madeleine L’Engle, “Words”

    Those prayers of my youth for help have evolved over time to become more about gratitude, listening and staying present. I like that. Prayer has become much more than the words I say and more about the words I hear, yet are unheard. I like that. I can also say the same thing with my journaling, blogging and my photography. Each is becoming what it is meant to be. I like that. My friend shared this poem with me. I found it to resonate with me so I wanted to share it with you. This is last night’s sunset along Overland Trail. Directly behind me is a pond with a wonderful chorus of croaking frogs. I like that. Moments like this have become prayer to me, no need for my words. Well, maybe “Thanks.”

  • clouds,  haiku,  horizons,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  poems,  poetry,  sunrises,  writing/reading

    the twilight hours

    a predawn pink sky
    silence just before sunrise
    these twilight hours

    mws

    My morning began with quiet time of prayer and meditation followed by a drive to Pineridge Natural Area. I enjoy being a part of these divine hours. Seeing the predawn pink colors along the eastern horizon brought on a smile and a bit of giddiness. And, the coolness of the light breeze was invigorating to all my physical senses. Meadowlarks and Robins contributed their morning song enhancing the moment and this sacred place. I found myself smiling again. Taking a deep breath I felt within the gratitude to be alive and the experience of these twilight hours. Hope you had a good Friday!