Category: meaning of life
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A Path to…
A few years ago I started posting photos and stories about my favorite hiking paths. These paths are both faded memories and current places of refuge during the pandemic. In the past I would be exhilarated after finishing was a walk through a redwood grove or fording a mountain stream. But, now when the hike…
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The New Normal
Ivan gets more walks these days now that COVID-19 has shut down much of the activity in California. Carmel, a tourist area, has a large number of restaurants, now shuttered. The local supermarket is short of water and chicken on a daily basis because some people are hoarding those goods. But walkers are out in…
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Refuge
Monterey County had its first two cases of COVID-19 yesterday. We are practicing social distancing. The woods is a safe place, so far, to be. Took this shot of sunlight filtering through tall trees to the trail below. A few months ago this would have been a photo of almost no importance, but now it…
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Calla Lily at First Light
Yesterday at sunrise, I took this shot of a lone calla lily in the backyard. I looked at it with hope in this uncertain time of the coronavirus pandemic where life has been altered by avoiding crowds and washing hands throughout the day. I don’t know how this lily came to be in our yard,…
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Great Egret Stalking…
As I drove for the first time to the parking lot of the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, I was greeted by a great egret stalking prey. This spot, a few miles west of Sacramento, is a photographer’s dream. Although I’ve seen birds here for decades while zipping down the freeway that goes over this marshland,…
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Iron Butterfly
The sea ages all things metal and wood. This “iron” butterfly was once yellow. I scrubbed the redwood door last year and it went from dark to light. In the meantime my hair has gone all white, but then I am not all metal or wood, simply thankful for each day, an emotion I don’t…
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Survivor…
What is a survivor? This diseased tree at Point Lobos has one cone on its branches. Is the cone a survivor if the entire tree is dead? If we are alive, we are survivors until we are not. I am a cancer survivor, meaning I’m still alive 3.5 years after diagnosis. Sometimes people with cancer…
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Mountain Stream
By the time this gentle stream reaches the Pacific Ocean, it is a roaring wall of water cascading over boulders at Big Sur. I hike to this stream throughout the year via Garrapata Canyon Trail. At the trailhead most people head towards the ocean, but I prefer the quiet of the redwoods, unseen less than…
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The Shadows In Life…
Many people put their best foot forward, even to the point of being untrue. On the good side, this effort is based on a positive attitude pushing them past obstacles that keep them from the happiness and peace they seek. On the dark side, smiling faces may mask lies and deceit used to create a…
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