• clouds,  fountain pens,  grass,  horizons,  journal,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  Plants,  quotes,  writing/reading

    Who I’m Becoming

    … the truth is that we simply don’t know — we don’t know where life ultimately leads, we don’t know what we want or what to want, and we don’t really know ourselves. 

    Maria Popova

    I’ve mentioned before my belief of how little I think I think I know. Yet there are times when some sense of knowing does rise within me. This knowing is not about having an answer or solution to a problem. It’s a knowing that somehow changes my perspective on life, this world, people, and myself. I find this knowing to be one of the adventures in life, a place of growth. I am slowly learning small bits of who I’m not and who I’m becoming.

  • Arapaho Bend Natural Area,  natural areas,  Plants,  quotes

    Great medicine

    The very meaning of Creation is seen to be an act of worship, a devoted proclamation of the splendour, the wonder, and the beauty of God. In this great Sanctus, all things justify their being and have their place.

    Evelyn Underhill

    Rain and more rain. Overcast skies and a fine mist seems to be the norm for the day. This image was taken yesterday afternoon on a walk at Arapaho Bend Natural Area. I believe this to be a Musk Thistle from my research on Dr. Google. There are an amazing varieties of thistle so how any scientist can differentiate them is beyond me. Anyway, it’s unpalatable to wildlife and livestock so they focus their foraging on other plants, which leaves the musk thistle to have an advantage over native meadows and grasslands. Thus it is considered an invasive plant. When I do the research most sites want to stress the plants invasiveness and how to control it. Most sites say that natural grasses will out compete them. Such a simple solution. For me I think it’s a beautiful plant among the grasses and does bring awe and wonder to my soul. Maybe that’s their place and justification for existence. I came home with muddy shoes, a few photos and a clearer head. Great medicine. Have a great day!

  • clouds,  haiku,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  reflections,  sunrises,  writing/reading

    Simple two notes

    two simple notes
    drifting over the meadow
    a chickadee sings

    ms

    Much like the snowflake, every morning sunrise is different. It seems to me that no two morning sunrises will ever be experienced the same. Each new dawn Nature provides a new canvas and uses every tool at her disposal in her creative task. Using the wind, temperature, light, the chickadees song, cloud shapes and patterns, maybe even knowing my intention and attitude that morning, she continuously offers an experience. We never know what she will offer. Maybe that mystery alone is what draws me out here.

  • horizons,  landscape,  Mary Oliver,  mountains,  natural areas,  Plants,  quotes,  Reservoir Ridge Natural Area

    Dazzle

    The multiplicity of forms! The hummingbird, the fox, the raven, the sparrow hawk, the otter, the dragonfly, the water lily! And on and on. It must be a great disappointment to God if we are not dazzled at least ten times a day.

    Mary Oliver

    Nothing dazzles me more than yesterday’s afternoon walk at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area taking in the golden beauty of rabbitbrush scattered throughout the still green meadow. Today I am driving Peak to Peak Highway with a friend to take in the golden fall colors. We are expecting to be dazzled. Weather forecast is cloudy and cooler, which means we layer. Photos to follow.

  • animals,  National Parks,  Yellowstone National Park

    Hard to imagine…

    A lone bison along the Madison River outside of West Yellowstone

    American Bison once numbered in the millions, perhaps between 25 million and 60 million by some estimates, and they were possibly the most numerous large land animal on earth. However, by the late 1880s, they had been hunted to near extinction throughout North America. The Yellowstone Park bison herd was the last free-ranging bison herd in the United States being the only place where bison were not extirpated. The Yellowstone Park bison herd is descended from a remnant population of 23 individual bison that survived the mass slaughter of the 19th century in the Pelican Valley of Yellowstone Park. To assist in the species’ revival, in 1896 the United States government obtained one bull and seven cows from the Lincoln Park Zoo bison herd for Yellowstone. In 1902, a captive herd of 21 Goodnight plains bison was introduced to the park and then moved to the Lamar Valley and managed as livestock until the 1960s, when a policy of natural regulation was adopted by the park. Yellowstone National Park has large areas of alpine meadows and grass prairie and this provides a nearly optimum environment for American bison who live in river valleys, and on prairies and plains. Their typical habitat is open or semi-open grasslands, as well as sagebrush grasslands, semi-arid lands, and scrublands. Some lightly wooded areas are also known historically to have supported bison. Bison will also graze in hilly or mountainous areas where the slopes are not steep. It’s hard to imagine those numbers of bison especially when you look at the lone bison in the above image. (Information from Wikipedia.)

  • Meister Eckhart,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes

    The Sunbeam

    From a late afternoon walk at Pineridge Natural Area

    “We usually miss You, cluttering our minds with expectations about where and how and who You are, but if we trust giving up our seeking and let ourselves know You in everything that is, even what’s concealed from us, we come to find You everywhere, at all times and in an equal way, no matter how strange this might seem to us.”

    Meister Eckhart’s Book of Secrets

    I believe the above is written from the perspective that You is referring to God. Even though the author is Christian his concept of You is not confined to a box but goes way beyond that. His You is not an object or deity. I also feel that way. I find it interesting to reread this and each time replace the word You with God, Love, Reality, Great Spirit, Compassion, Beauty, Nature, Creator, Truth, Justice, Peace, Serenity… and none of these are objects or material things. Thanks for listening…