• clouds,  horizons,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes,  sunrises

    Letting go

    March 29, 2024

    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!!

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  • Candid Portraits,  People/Portraits,  quotes

    Moving on…

    January 13, 2024

    “Whether we experience what happens to us as obstacle and enemy or as a teacher and friend depends entirely on our perception of reality. It depends on our relationship with ourselves.”

    Pema Chödrön

    Weather app says it’s −11° and feels like -24°. They are spot on. We also had a dusting of snow overnight. After quiet time I made myself a bhakti chai, wrapped a blanket around myself, settled in for some reading and journaling. After my phone call with Eric I drove to Starry Night because today is Stephen’s last day as my barista. He’s a very good barista and very personable, one of my favorites. No one who walks in will feel like a stranger when he is working. So, I wanted to say goodby on his last day. He has been working and studying to be an EMT and was just hired by the fire department in Johnstown. I enjoy watching as young people move on to new paths. I’ve seen that a lot with baristas, which means I have to train another barista. Good luck and have fun, Stephen! Its now 11:43 am and we’ve warmed up to −6°.

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  • fog,  horizons,  landscape,  Mary Oliver,  Plants,  poems,  poetry,  sunrises,  trees

    Conversation in My Heart

    August 15, 2023

    Another morning and I wake with thirst
    for the goodness I do not have. I walk
    out to the pond and all the way God has
    given us such beautiful lessons. Oh Lord,
    I was never a quick scholar but sulked
    and hunched over my books past the hour
    and the bell; grant me, in your mercy,
    a little more time. Love for the earth
    and love for you are having such a long
    conversation in my heart. Who knows what
    will finally happen or where I will be sent,
    yet already I have given a great many things
    away, expecting to be told to pack nothing,
    except the prayers which, with this thirst,
    I am slowly learning.

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

    The Power of Practice

    July 25, 2023

    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!

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  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes,  reflections

    Look at the record

    April 5, 2023

    “If you make a mistake and do not correct it, this is called a mistake.”

    Confucius

    Although it never got over 40 degrees today, we enjoyed blue skies and sunshine. Sure was a change from yesterday’s cold and snow. This reflection is from Dixon Reservoir about 4:00 pm this afternoon. And, it was taken with that old Fujifilm X-T10 and the old 27mm f2.8 lens.

    I agree with Confucius that mistakes are a necessary part of life, they have lessons to teach us. My life experiences show that when I don’t learn the lessons, we can expect I will make the same mistakes, again and again. Thankfully that has changed quite a bit as I’ve grown older more mature. As they say, “Just look at the record!” Hope you had a good Wednesday!

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  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  sunrises

    Bashful Sun

    February 7, 2021

    I sat in my car and watched a bashful sun hide behind a bank of clouds sitting along the eastern horizon precisely where the sun was to rise. In the predawn light it teasingly hinted of pink along the northern edge of the clouds, letting me know it was there. As any good friend and lover of nature would do, I sipped on my morning coffee, took an image every once in awhile and waited to see what beauty would be offered.

    I experienced a sense of how nature has been teaching me patience in these latter years of my life or at least continuously offering me more lessons. I took 54 images during that hour and found it difficult to decide on just one image to post. I honestly like them all. I finally chose these two because of the cloud patterns, the subtle pink in the first image and the sunbeams in the second. Both also hint of the bashfulness of the sun this mornings. Happy Sunday!

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  • gratitude,  leaves,  Plants

    Grateful for the Lessons

    July 21, 2018

    The Details
    The Details

    My grandson and his mother lived with me up until he was about two. I would take him to the playground at the nearby school to play on the swing. He was just beginning to walk so it was a good time to practice that skill. Not sure he saw it as practice but more of a way to discover the world.  We constantly stopped. He would squat to check out things many of us never see: the ants streaming across the sidewalk, a dandelion, a caterpillar. I had to get down on my knees to see what I was missing. I loved this place he was in:  the wonder, awe, watching, observing. Without realizing it he was teaching me to look, observe and experience the moment. Grateful for the lessons from my grandson.

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