• Creativity,  Dewdrops,  landscape,  leaves,  Metro Parks,  natural areas,  Plants,  quotes

    Growth in my Photography

    Morning dew on the leaves at Inniswood Gardens

    “I beg you, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.” 

    Rainer Maria Rilke

    While living in the Westerville, Ohio area I was exposed to nature areas that were so different from my home state of Colorado. I was enthralled with all the green, the insects , the soft diffused light and the amount of rain. I was not used to all the rain and for sure had to adjust to the overcast skies. I cans still in my memory recall the distinct fragrance these forested areas offered, telling me how alive they were.

    At the time I was traveling 3-4 days then home for 3-4 days. These extended days off gave me the opportunity to explore the Metro Parks in around the Westerville area. I found two  parks within about 10 minutes of my apartment so I ventured into those worlds on regular basis. One was Inniswood Gardens and the other was Blendon Woods. And, the days I was traveling were opportunities to explore new cities, peoples, cultures and almost unlimited photo opportunities. It was during this time I feel I began to grow emotionally and spiritually which in turn allowed my view of the world to grow. And, this emotional and spiritual growth was the seed to the growth of my photography. 

  • architecture,  Cityscapes/Urban,  grass,  lifestyles,  Plants

    Order and Chaos

    Nature creates with chaos and man creates with order, or so it seems. Both make use of lines and curves to create. Architecture feels mostly ordered, static and has a rigid feeling to it. Nature feels more flexible, relaxed, in constant movement, never static and is free flowing.

    I leave in the morning for my sabbatical to spend time in reading, writing, studying, prayer/meditation, quiet, learning to listen to the other within me. I have been uncovering, discovering, discarding the stinking thinking I had about myself and the world around me. Hoping this time with others on similar paths will continue in that process. Nervous and yet excited. What will I discover? I’m heading into this with as much openness as I am capable of. Yesterday was my 69th birthday so this is like a gift I’m giving to myself.

    I do not expect to post much or read many of your amazing posts but will check whenever I can. They have a couple of computer on site for checking email so what access to the internet will be with my phone’s cellular data or some coffee shop I may find on a weekend. I’m actually looking forward to some time away from the internet, much like our friend Cedric just had for 2 months. I’m aware I spend too much time on it. See ya later.

  • clouds,  grass,  landscape,  natural areas,  Plants,  quotes,  trees

    Walking the Path

    This is from yesterday afternoon on a walk at the Environmental Learning Center along the Poudre River. I go there for the quiet, probably not often enough. I found three young people who had strung hammocks among a grove of trees, were playing music and staring at their phones. We were not using the ELC I read earlier in the day that we do not seek silence as much as we are to be silence. I like that idea and will need to ponder that for awhile, in silence. You”ll find the reading below.

    Storm clouds filled the sky to the south and west but no rain. Teh clouds and a cool breeze made it almost a perfect temperature. Loved the musty smell of the woods and all the birds singing. The Poudre River was full and running hard from the spring runoff. I was glad to see few mosquitos or flies.

    “Perhaps for the first time we have a limited sense of what it means to be silence, instead of actively seeking or longing for the silence we think we lack and trying to make space for silence in our lives, as if this silence were not already silence but some sort of object to be sought and found.” Martin Laird

  • landscape,  natural areas,  Plants,  trees

    Calm and Reflective

    Reflections at Arapaho Bend Nature Area
    Reflections at Arapaho Bend Nature Area

    Had to make a couple trips to Windsor so I took County Road 5 rather than the Interstate. It’s a slower paced 2 lane road and a lot less traffic. On Monday I saw 7 hawks and on Tuesday I saw 4 of them. They always cause me to smile as they are so majestic. Each day for them is about survival. Seems like a simpler life than mine. I have much to learn from them. The water was calm and reflective at the Arapaho Bend Nature Area. 

  • insects

    Beauty in Nature

    Found on one of my walks
    Found on one of my walks

    I chose nature photography as a way of capturing and sharing the beauty, power, and fragility of wild places and the life that inhabits them, so that those who have become mired in the man-made chaos may open their eyes to the real world. 

    Guy Tal
  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  trees

    After the Storm

    Passing Storm
    Passing Storm

    We had dark ominous clouds move through Fort Collins this past Wednesday afternoon. I drove to the east side of town near the Environmental Learning Center to watch the clouds, the lightening strikes and thunder. Yet, not one drop of rain as the storm headed south and east for the plains. They got plenty of rain. I love the show nature puts on. 

    Each day of life is a gift. However, today is a bit more more special as it is my parents 69th wedding anniversary. 🙂 I love you two!