Tag Archives: Quote

Inside Out

Shake it off

There is a tree outside of our house still has leaves clinging to its branches. The leaves are dry and a dull brown, or bright orange in the right light. There have been winter advisories with high winds, freezing nights, rain and sunshine. Nothing has convinced the leaves to go on their final journey and return to the ground.

It’s a new year, 2023. I feel like this old tree. Can’t let go of the old. The new green is not there, yet.

I know.

“Hit the reset button. Whatever happened yesterday, forget about it. Get a new perspective. Today is a new day. Fresh start, begins now.”
―

Germany Kent

How is your start in the New Year?

Cheers

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One Man's Paradise

Dawn To Dusk

“As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air.

William O. Douglas

In the morning light the tree in front of our house appears bright orange, in the evening it’s the sky.

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Quote

Nothing

Cliff Dwellings, NM

I produce nothing but words. I consume nothing but food, a little propane, a little firewood.

By being virtually useless in the calculations of the culture at large I become useful, at last, to myself.

Fire Season, Philip Connors

Those are my feelings these days. Visitors are thanking me for volunteering. I say, you can volunteer, too.

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Inside Out

Let’s Plant a Tree

The true meaning of life

is to plant trees,

under whose shade

you do not expect to sit.

Nelson Henderson

I am not pretending to know the meaning of life, but the quote by Nelson Henderson reminded me of recent acts of kindness that I have experienced. This post goes to all people that have opened their home, fed and supported me unselfishly.

More than ever, this is the time to think about and act having our less blessed neighbors, close by and far away, and future generations in mind. We indeed need to plant trees and take other measures to ensure the well-being of our Planet.

Nelson Henderson was a WWI veteran and a farmer in Manitoba. Apparently he was not a man of big words. Nevertheless, the above quote from his biography “UNDER WHOSE SHADE: A STORY OF A PIONEER IN THE SWAN RIVER VALLEY OF MANITOBA” by his son Wes Henderson speaks to us loud and clear.

One of my favorite books is “So let’s plant an apple tree. The time has come.” by Hoimar von Ditfurth. The author proposes humanity as incapable of recognizing its own behavior as the cause of the threat to our environment and of changing course. I tend to agree with the author, although I wish otherwise…

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Inside Out

Of seeds and deeds

Poppy

“Don’t judge each day

by the harvest you reap

but by the seeds that you plant.”

Robert Louis Stevenson

Just fishing here. I didn’t help an old lady across the street today and I didn’t plant any seeds today because it’s way too cold for that. Oh, that’s not what you meant, Bob?

Well, I am still very much in hiding. We are now talking about the fourth wave coming at us. What good deeds could I do in light of that? Haven’t moved my car in a month, brought my own shopping bags, walked to the grocery store and library, didn’t buy any chicken or red meat… Will it make a difference? No.

Those poppies in our front yard got me dressed the other day. First, the seedpods were covered in fresh snow, but I could not get a good shot of that. Over time the snow flakes bonded and formed crystals in and around the seed pods. The poppy pictured above looks to me like a blossom again.

Happy planting.

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One Man's Paradise

Waiting for the Sun II

Another day…

I am amazed how folks have found ways during this pandemic to further their passions. I have enjoyed remote music sessions shared through the internet. In that spirit I reworked some earlier images, which I am sharing in the coming days.

Here is “Waiting for the Sun”.

Can I recommend Gnossienne No 1 by Erik Satie to go with that?

“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, “Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.”

Lewis Carroll
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Life

Your Table Is Ready

Some of us haven’t heard that sentence in a while. State, county, or city mandates had prohibited indoor service at restaurants at times during the pandemic.

Winter Patio

I consider not being able to dine in a minor inconvenience. Others view this is an unconstitutional deprivation of their human rights. Thus, the pandemic has deepened the rift in our society. How do you live with these absurdities of our times?

Here is some advice from Albert Camus, who received the Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44.

Accepting the absurdity of everything around us is one step, a necessary experience:

it should not become a dead end.

Albert Camus

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Quote

Autumn

Termination Dust, Alaska

“Autumn is more a season of the soul than of nature.”

Friedrich Nietzsche

I had so many good intentions about documenting my adventures this year in the Arctic:

Months without sunrise or sunset.

The first fireweed flower of the season.

The scares of wildfires abound.

Floating through the Gates of the Arctic.

Climbing Mt. Dillon.

Where did it all go? Well, there were so many thrilling moments this summer, I found just enough time to breathe, eat, and occasionally sleep.

Hope your summer was a great one.

Officially we are still having fall, although winter is knocking heavily on its doors in some places of North America.

How does your soul feel about the impending transition?

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