Tag Archives: Beauty

Green River Gorge Resort

For 47 years, since I first started teaching Psychology at Fort Steilacoom Community College, the Green River Gorge has been one of my favorite places in the world.

Soft water cutting through solid rock over millions of years, the roar and clearness of the water, the steep trail down to the river, the waterfall, and the once hot tub under that waterfall. These all make me feel humble at the beauty, and grandeur, and “mysticalness” of this place. The fact that the place is overrun by drunks and rude people during the summer means only that I must go there when few people are there.

A few weeks ago I went again and was able to capture the best shots possible of this place (and nothing can compare to the reality of this place). Here are a few photos.

Raindrops on Leaves

Walking with my Dog Louie, twice daily, through the wooded trails here at Jubilee, and at Tolmie State park is a great pleasure, and and a great healing, for me.

As a person with a “photographer’s eye” I see beauty that many people miss. Having my Iphone camera with me makes it easy to capture some of that beauty, crop it, edit it, and now share it with you. It rains a lot here 🙂 but the raindrops on fallen Pacific Madrone leaves is spectacularly beautiful.

I hope you take time to see the beauty near you.

Beauty in the photographs details:Teapots

I love this photo! 

 

I love this photo and put a lot of work into it. I wanted to emphasize the teapots, the linen, the reflections, and therefore made everything but the table and the teapots into a black background.

What do I love in this photograph?

The T shape folded white tablecloth and the detailed weaving of that tablecloth.

The white teapot in the foreground, with its beautiful curved elegant handle shaped perfectly for pouring. The gentle curved classy but deliberately understated spout, that white 5 petaled rose on the knob of the cover, and that so wonderfully curved reflection of light on top. I love the reflection of the trees of the garden and the afternoon sun on the front of the teapot. That teapot is elegant perfection in the service of tea! Yet, we often don’t see it. Thinking about something else, we just pour our tea.

The blue handled, blue spouted, Blue topped, colorful teapot in the background. I love the colors, the flowers, the orange with yellow dotted bottom. I love the shape of the handle and the tear drop shaped top handle. I love the bright light and shadow of the afternoon sun on the teapot. I love the shape and The light and  the shadows of the blue handle against the black background.

I love the light of the sun and the shapes it makes on the tablecloth at the top of the photo.

I love how the teapots in their simple elegant beauty, and the tablecloth, and the sunlight on the tablecloth are the stars of this photograph. Yet, the tea cup and the plate with the scone almost hidden at the top are also part of the photograph.

For me, this is almost a perfect photograph that brings me great joy, and great remembrances of the teahouse in Victoria British Columbia.

Reassembling Part 5: Tyler’s gifts of leaves and twigs

We celebrated Tyler’s 2nd Birthday while we were in Texas! His often quick and cherub-like smile always melted my heart. And  he was such a very busy boy! Among many other things, every time we were outside he made it a deliberate point to often, and delightedly, bring to “Poppa Dan” a handful of leaves and twigs and Fall dirt. I was honored to receive such gifts!
Below are 2 photos of Tyler OF his most recent gifts. One photo is while “Momma Stu” and “Poppa Dan” were having their picture taken. The second photo is of the breathtakingly beautiful and uniques wood twigs in my hand that he had shared with me. Each twig is gloriously small, and worn, and unique, and gorgeous. Treasures that I would not have seen in my sorrow. Great gifts indeed. Thank you Tyler!

On being the eyes of God, observing, sliding into, exalting with, His/Her Beauty

On being the eyes of God, observing, sliding into, exalting with, His/Her Beauty.
by Dan Windisch 12/16/15

I/you/we
can be
(and there are so many moments in my life when I have been, and eternally in that moment
AM,
the created for,
loved by,
and surrounded with
HIS/HER/God’s
Love and Peace and BEAUTY. 

Yet Capital I and little i, and we,
so sadly, and so often, are not quite feeling it.

Like busy bees,
with a celestial orchestra  just beyond my/our hearing range,
that we hum and hymn when our brains quiet down.
Where did I hear that before?
And why does it make me smile with the Beauty, and Joy, and Love of It?

 Like a touch so soft in our dreams from our Beautiful LOVE
that we just can’t quite feel when we awaken, yet we know is there,
and that makes us smile,
not knowing why,
before we slide into the busy-ness, business of the day.

I love it when I especially,
am in that Special moment, or minute (and eternally),
am consciously aware that
I truly (and perhaps only)
Am
the eyes and ears, of God,
observing, sliding into, and exalting with,
His/Her/Our Beauty and Love.

Mystical moments,
that remind me truly who I am.