sunrise – Surprised By Joy

Photos of the Week: April 22

April 22, 2023April 21, 2023Posted in Photo of the weekTagged earth day, mountains, photographs, sunrise60 Comments

“Whatever befalls the Earth, befalls the sons and daughters of the Earth. This we know. The Earth does not belong to people; people belong to the Earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected.” – Chief Seattle

In honor of Earth Day and inspired in part by Michelle at BoomerEcoCrusader, I’m changing up the photos of the week to be some of the things I’ve been lucky enough to see on planet Earth.

Mt Elbrus (part of the Caucus Mountain Range) in Russia

The Mexican Volcanoes

The Himalaya including Tengboche Monastery, the Khumbu Icefall and Mt. Everest left to right in the bottom row.

And my home territory – the mountains of the Pacific Northwest

And the waters of the Pacific Northwest.

Happy Earth Day, Everyone!

Photos of the Week: Jan 21

January 21, 2023January 20, 2023Posted in Photo of the weekTagged photographs, sunrise41 Comments

“I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m on my way.”-Voltaire

Budding wildlife photographers starting with a suitable subject – the slug in winter.

It appears that I’m raising some tree huggers as shown on our latest hike. Well, not exactly tree huggers, but at least processed wood post huggers.

Awe inspiring mornings.

Heart of the week – rock found by Miss O on our hike.

Photos of the Week: Nov 26

November 26, 2022November 26, 2022Posted in Photo of the weekTagged photographs, sunrise41 Comments

“All the flowers of tomorrow are in the seeds of today.” – Indian Proverb

Blocking the view

Mr. D is very interested in being the “food maker” these days. It’s a bold thing to ask to help with during Thanksgiving week.

Fall biking … which is a lot better than bike falling. And although the shadow makes it look like I’m riding with Mr. D on my head, I can assure you that’s not the case — see the previous sentence.

Of the many things I’m thankful for this week, one is definitely the gorgeous sun that has been treating us to incredible views from dawn to dusk.

Love is on the ground doesn’t sound very interesting so I’ll “leaf” this caption up to you all. How was your week?

Photo of the Week: November 6th

November 6, 2021Posted in UncategorizedTagged beauty, photograph, sunrise9 Comments

The sky was so magnificently red as I was pulling out to drive the kids to school that I turned in the opposite direction with a car full of kids saying, “Maa-maa?” and “Where are we going?” I drove up a few blocks to my favorite spot in our neighborhood to watch God’s master class in color selection and beauty and the kids said, “Wowww!” Then we proceeded to school and weren’t even late.

Magic In The Air

June 15, 2021Posted in meditationTagged inspiration, Jill Tarter, Krista Tippett, magic, meditation, openness, possibility, sunrise

“Above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” – Roald Dahl

I was listening to the On Being podcast with Krista Tippett and Jill Tarter. Jill Tarter is an astronomer and the co-founder of the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute. She talked about her long career, the fascinating questions she’s pursued and the many eye-opening discoveries that have changed how we think of the possibilities. One of her examples was that scientists have discovered that life exists in so many places on earth we never thought possible – like bacteria in nuclear reactor fluid and whole colonies so far beneath the sea that light doesn’t shine. During the interview, this particular line that Jill said caught my attention, “We have to stop projecting what we think onto what we don’t know.”

Our thinking colors our ability to perceive. Our openness determines whether we will see magic. It makes me think of the time that I dropped my wallet in my neighborhood grocery store and had to go back for it. As my internal voice was grumping about my own carelessness, I both found the wallet and bumped in to a dear friend that I hadn’t seen for two years as she recovered from cancer. Best mistake ever. Or the time I was awakened early by the baby crying and blearily stumbled out of my room with the closed blinds to discover the most stunning sunrise. Or the magic of divorce which made me walk back everything I thought I knew about how life was going to go until I found out what life waited for me outside those expectations.

We have to be open to the possibility that while we are searching for how to be happy, we might just find out that we already are.