deadline looming

No pretty pictures today
work work work
ptelea needs to get out!

today's sunset

More spectacular clouds all day long, even after dark. But just after sunset: pinks, blues, and blacks.



Making the buildings, the lights, even the trees look insignificant.

trust

fresh morning
radiant colors and stunning clouds
energy unfolding
memories beheld
undoubting promise of future joy

daily ritual

I feel blessed each morning that I can get myself out to witness the hour before sunrise. Mother Nature puts on a show, a spectacular sensual feast.



This morning, I was marveling at the haloed pine tree when fate touched me on the shoulder.


I turned and my vision was drawn to the Denver skyline where I saw the skyscrapers lit up with the first glow of the risen sun.






Walking across the crusted snow to find a good vantage, it seemed to me that all of nature delights in this daily ritual.

thinking of you

Back home to my sunrises
Memories fill my heart and mind
Always searching for the good within
The more I look
The more I find
Mother Earth is my home!

Adventure!

Sun rises on a new chapter in life


Flowers in winter; seeing the trees in the forest

A sea gull looks at its shadow

Avenue of palms; beautiful juxtaposition of man and nature

Following my heart!

comfort

I missed taking any photos yesterday for the first time in weeks. The experience this morning made up for any sense of loss. Even though I was at Top of the World Park AGAIN,

there was magic in the cold and dry morning light.
Breathtaking new views even in the comfort of familiar places.

tracks in the snow

It’s magic. Overnight, the snow changed from wet and heavy to wintry powder. The air is cold and absorbent. There are tracks everywhere. Where do they come from and where do they lead? How do I choose which path to follow or do I make my own?















I have faith that each choice will lead to beauty.

a snowman in my future?

Another January ‘spring’ storm.
This one with more promise than the last.

Déjà vu!

warming me

Warm air
Warm breeze
Warm sun
As always, through the trees
Thoughts of you warming me

fire within

The sunset this evening was not for the fainthearted. I am not talking about the beauty. The biting cold wind was a killer and for the first time ever, I left my post as recorder of the sunset. I got so thoroughly chilled that I had to come home for a little break to warm up. I kept looking out the window to see if the colors were going to be brilliant enough to draw me out again. Well they were and I did. Now, the fires within are warming me. As beautiful as the most beautiful photo I have ever seen.

Finally! Snow

Waking up with great anticipation for snow
Instead just a couple inches of the white stuff
Out I go with the snow still falling, lightly but steadily
No great hope for much accumulation
Incredible smell of a spring storm even though it is January
Dreams of building a snowman are on hold – maybe the next storm!

Approaching Storm

Perspective

This day started out differently than expected which in a way is, as you would expect.  I went to bed last night committed to getting to the top of Green Mountain for the sunrise.  I got a late start and at the last minute decided to be safe and buy extra batteries.  As I exited the store, there were my beautiful row of spruce trees and cottonwoods that I spend so much time with at Top of the World Park.  In all the years I have lived in this neighborhood, I have never noticed my trees from this perspective and certainly not with this lighting.  I drove around frantically for a few minutes before finding a place from which to photograph.  I have to wonder what other perspectives I am missing but now I will know to be more open.

Even when Pat is in, Pat wants to be out

Seeing Through a Different Eye

My son has just returned from a few months in Italy.  My passion for photography has developed since he left.  This morning he woke up early; he has yet to recover from jet lag and being on a schedule 8 hours ahead.  I took him up to Top of the World Park and showed him all of the places where I like to take pictures.  He has his own memories of the park and we walked a different path this morning.  He showed me some of the places he wanted to photograph and we plotted what we might do in the future since we now share this passion.

Clouds All Day

Sunset over Green Mountain

Smoky Sunrise

I wear my disappointment like the thick clouds that drape across the sky this morning. It is a beautiful different kind of sunrise but I only see one dimension, trying to reason myself out of it even if the view cannot. It takes the simple song of the black-capped chickadee to realize: I need an attitude adjustment!

hidden home

I saw this as I was walking home from Top of the World, hiding in my red osier dogwood. As I downloaded the photos, I looked out the front door to see a fox hurrying down the sidewalk. Just another day in the suburbs.

morning ritual

Ahh, the comfort of returning to a place that you love, listening again to a piece of music that speaks to your soul, seeing the beauty of yet another sunrise.  I love the way different parts of the sky change colors in such subtle ways, at once both intense and fleeting.  Top of the World Park

Scale!

reflections at Belmar

When I moved to Denver 16 years ago, I was newly divorced with two young children.  I had left my home in an aspen grove to live the single parent life in an apartment in the city.  I soon discovered Belmar Park across the busy highway that offered me some peace.  I decided to return to this park today to see how it looked after many years since I last visited.  It was quite dark and I had to put on more layers against the rather bitter cold wind.  I scouted around for places to photograph once the sky began to lighten.  The theme for the day became reflections.  Even in the darkness, I could see reflections of the lamppost light on the waters of Kountze Lake, itself full of motion and reflections over it’s wind-whipped surface.  It is a noisy park on this day and time, the geese and the slapping of the water against the edge of the lake.  This lake sits adjacent to the site of a demolished mansion, replaced with an unimaginative office complex.  The only remnant of the former owner is the white marble guardian landing and terrace.  It is a beacon to the past with the lights of the office complex framing it in reflection on the water.

Soon, as color began to wash across the sky, several other city dwellers came out for their morning activities.  I imagine that some of these are Belmar’s regulars.  I walk around seeing the geese in so many poses, on the ice, in the water, in lines stretching across the lake, in the air.  They are the true regulars.

Although this lake is far from pristine, it is a link to nature and without this link, how can anyone be at peace?