• flowers,  landscape,  snow,  winter scenes

    Springtime in Colorado

    Welcome to springtime in Colorado as we awoke to another dusting of snow. I cleaned off about 2 inches from my car, heavy and wet stuff. Perfect snow for snowball fights or making a snowman. I find these snowfalls to be a beautiful experience. I watched big moisture laden snowflakes quietly drift through the air, doing what snowflakes are meant to do. Love the silence they bring!

    The roads were clear so I could meet Eric for coffee in Windsor. When I came back into town I stopped at the CSU Experimental gardens, knowing I could find a couple of photo opportunities. All the tulips were closed and snuggled in a blanket of snow. Since it’s just above freezing these tulips will most likely survive to show us more of their beauty in a day or so. Will meet friends later for dinner. Enjoy your Saturday!

  • clouds,  horizons,  landscape,  trees

    The Gift of Words

    One of my favoritest cottonwood trees

    I just finished reading a second book by George N. Wallace. I mentioned his other book here, which was a collection of poems and essays. This book I just finished is all poetry, Enjoying the Work. I have found his writing humorous, while at times causing tears to well up in my eyes, and he does not use metaphors that cause me to wander off in stray thoughts as I try to figure out what he is saying. In his introduction he writes how poetry is therapeutic, helping him to see the beauty of an approaching thunderhead, it also mercifully dilutes the bile arising as one witnesses injustices, or ecological wounding, and hopefully permitting wisdom, love and clear-eyed resistance to prevail. I found it an easy read for me. He inspires me to write. I am thankful for his gift in words. I’ll buy his next book when it comes out.

  • clouds,  horizons,  landscape,  trees

    Turning to Another Door

    At the beginning of the twenty-first century, to feel alone or want to be alone is deeply unfashionable: to admit to feeling alone is to reject and betray others, as if they are not good company, and do not have entertaining, interesting lives of their own to distract us, and to actually seek to be alone is a radical act; to want to be alone is to refuse a certain kind of conversational hospitality and to turn to another door, and another kind of welcome, not necessarily defined by human vocabulary.

    David Whyte

    I like solitude. Yet, I also need contact with people, which is one of the primary reasons why I include coffee life with my mornings. Yesterday was a funky day inside my head. Felt frustrated, restless, irritable, even lost. I wanted to be left alone. So, through habit or need, I chose to find a place in nature. So, I spent time with the meadowlarks, the silent clouds, the whisper of the wind, and my good friend, this solitary tree I visit on a regular basis. The setting sun casts a warm glow over the grass. My funk faded and a calm settled within me, but sure it will return at another opportune time. I’m glad I’m unfashionable and turned to another door! Hope everyone stays warm and dry. I awoke during the night with a sore throat and now have a niche little head cold. It will be a day for rest and soup.

  • Arapaho Bend Natural Area,  landscape,  natural areas,  reflections,  sunrises

    Predawn Colors

    early morning light
    nature choosing her colors
    predawn delight

    mws

    My day began earlier than usual and not by choice. I awoke precisely at 4:31 am. Not sure my body said that’s enough sleep or some inner voice was telling me to get outside and accept the gift of the new day. Maybe I need to listen to that voice more often. After scraping ice from the windshield I chose to drive east towards Arapaho Bend Natural Area. I like coming to this natural area as it’s easy to get to and the ponds provide an opportunity for reflections. As I’ve mentioned before the only negative here is having the traffic noise from the interstate, which is just beyond those trees. I felt excitement well up inside me and a tinge of promise as I drove closer because of the shape of the clouds. When I arrived at the south pond I quickly set up my camera and tripod just as nature pulled out her red paintbrush and began creating on her blue sky canvas. I stood along the water’s edge sipping on my pour-over coffee with a “giddy grin”. Have a wonderful Tuesday!

  • landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes,  reflections,  silence,  sunrises

    Resting in Solitude…

    Resting in solitude, I could sit in the silence of my own being and drink deeply from the well spring of divine love that sustained me.

    Ilia Delio

    Nothing like sitting in silence while taking in a beautiful predawn sky over Dixon Reservoir. Well, to be honest with you, I was not resting in solitude so much as freezing my buns off! I took this image last week.

    I spent part of yesterday afternoon sitting along Strauss Cabin Road, watching a bald eagle and journaling. There is power in being with others, getting outside of myself, while there is also power in solitude, being with myself. I pray for the balance! 🙏 Have a wonderful Monday.

  • Plants,  shadows,  snow,  trees,  winter scenes

    The Oval’s Shadows

    Shadows at the CSU Oval

    A bit warmer this morning at 14 degrees but still cold enough. Blue skies and sunshine predicted for today and maybe 43 degrees. Made my way to Mugs for an Old Town Moch made by the lovely Emma. Always a good start to my day. As I left the coffee shop I noticed the shadows stretching across the CSU Oval and felt compelled to pull into the parking area for a quick photo. The trees encircling the Oval and lining the inner sidewalks are all American elms. Many of the trees date from the 1880s and 1920s. There are 99 elms circling the Oval and lining its walkways. Some of the trees are 80 to 90 feet high, with roots that are one-and-a-half times their height. Many of the large elm trees that circle Oval Drive were planted in 1922, as 1-inch saplings, and until 1924, the center Oval was an alfalfa and grain field. In 1925, a grass lawn was planted. It was interesting to research the history of the trees and the oval this morning. I now have a bit more connection to them and those early morning shadows they offer. Have a wonderful Sunday!

  • clouds,  quotes,  trees

    Enjoy the Surprises

    A touch of soft pastel pink clouds outside the coffee shop

    We humans can easily lose our perspective on our humble place in the universe. We get locked up in our heads, prisoners of our limited ideas and thoughts, cutting ourselves off from the wider world of experience. We forget or are simply unaware that we are part of an immense cosmic history that continues to stretch into a vast unknown future.

    Ilia Delio

    I cringe when I hear anyone claim they know how a situation will turn out, how people will react, or the course nature will take. Even when challenged about their assumptions, they will say yes they know. Way too much ego for me and a total turnoff. I admit we can make pretty accurate assumptions based on past evidence and experiences but we cannot predict the future. Just ask any weather forecaster. So, I try to live life with the awareness that I don’t know all that my ego would like me to think I think I know, or believe all my assumptions and opinions. And, in truth those assumptions and opinions are evolving over time. When I remain in a place of humility, accepting my limited ideas and thoughts as just that, I am open to the wider experiences life offers. Then, I’m in a place to watch as the day unfolds and enjoy the surprises, like soft pastel pink clouds outside the coffee shop! Happy Valentine’s Day!

  • landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes,  sunrises,  winter scenes

    It’s a Miracle

    Predawn light over Dixon Reservoir

    To be alive and walk on the Earth is a miracle, and yet most of us are running as if there was some better place to get to. There is beauty calling to us every day, every hour, but we are rarely in a position to listen.

    Thich Nhat Hanh

    I can easily find myself running, sometimes unaware of the direction I’m running. Often times it’s driven by fear, worry, fatigue, anger, running late, and not surprisingly, influenced by our highly driven society. I have a few of ways to slow down. One is to journal. Another is time in nature. Prayer and meditation time is another. As I think about that I realize they allow me to see more of the beauty in this world. Enjoy your Monday!