Luna

“The moon is a loyal companion. It never leaves. It’s always there, watching, steadfast, knowing us in our light and dark moments, changing forever just as we do. Every day it’s a different version of itself. Sometimes weak and wan, sometimes strong and full of light. The moon understands what it means to be human. Uncertain. Alone. Cratered by imperfections.”  

~ Tahereh Mafi

“We are all like the bright moon, we still have our darker side.” 

~ Kahlil Gibran

“We are going to the moon that is not very far. Man has so much farther to go within himself.” 

~ Anaïs Nin

“We love the night and its quiet; and there is no night that we love so well as that on which the moon is coffined in clouds.” 

~ Fitz-James O'Brien

“Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.” 
~ Mark Twain

"What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves? This is the most important of all voyages of discovery, and without it, all the rest are not only useless, but disastrous."

~ Thomas Merton

Magic

“We all start out knowing magic. We are born with whirlwinds, forest fires, and comets inside us. We are born able to sing to birds and read the clouds and see our destiny in grains of sand. But then we get the magic educated right out of our souls.” 

~Robert R. McCammon

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” 

~W.B. Yeats

Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business.
~Tom Robbins

Magic exists. Who can doubt it, when there are rainbows and wildflowers, the music of the wind and the silence of the stars? Anyone who has loved has been touched by magic. It is such a simple and such an extraordinary part of the lives we live.
~Nora Roberts

And 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 do believe in an everyday sort of magic -- the inexplicable connectedness we sometimes experience with places, people, works of art and the like; the eerie appropriateness of moments of synchronicity; the whispered voice, the hidden presence, when we think we're alone.”
~Charles de Lint

“Children see magic because they look for it.” 

~Christopher Moore

“Music is the strongest form of magic.” 

~Marilyn Manson

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
~Albert Einstein

Tea Tag - October 13th

September Equinox

Happy autumnal equinox/first day of fall to those in the Northern Hemisphere and vernal equinox/first day of spring to those in the Southern Hemisphere!! It's a special day in regards to the Earth-Sun relationship:

On the September equinox (approximately September 22, but varies slightly from year to year), the vertical rays of the Sun will strike directly (perpendicular) at the equator. On any other day throughout the year, the axis of the Earth is tilted a little towards or away from the sun.  Also, the circle of illumination (the dividing line between the daylight half of the Earth and nighttime half of the Earth) touches both poles, bisecting all other parallels. Thus, day and night are of equal length at all locations on Earth (approximately 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness). The word "equinox" comes from the Latin language - "equi" meaning "equal", and "nox" meaning "night" -  "the time of equal days and equal nights."

“Autumn is a reminder that while the leaves die and fall, there will always be Spring, a chance to replenish and be reborn again. We all have the opportunity to replenish ourselves, to be reborn.”

~ Tao 

"Autumn asks that we prepare for the future —that we be wise in the ways of garnering and keeping. But it also asks that we learn to let go—to acknowledge the beauty of sparseness."

~ Bonaro W. Overstreet

Tea Tag - September 15

Confusion

“Any confusion you experience has within it the essence of wisdom automatically. So as soon as you detect confusion, it is the beginning of some kind of message. At least you are able to see your confusion, which is very hard. Ordinarily people do not see their confusion at all, so by recognizing your confusion, you are already at quite an advanced level. So you shouldn’t feel bad about that; you should feel good about it.”

~ Chögyam Trungpa

I hope you are right, Trungpa, and if so, I should be at an expert level by now!

expression of the universe

You are the universe, expressing itself as a human for a little while.

~ Eckhart Tolle

In the darkness - Isabelle Lake/Pawnee Pass

08/28/2013 - Hike at Brainard

The day may not have been "nice" nor the weather "perfect."  It was rainy, dark, the trail slippery, muddy, skies overcast, the forests shadowed. Yet, it all encompassed its own beauty...beauty in the darkness and in the shadows. 

It is a necessity for things to be balanced in nature. While extremes are tolerable for a time, balance is eventually necessary, it helps all life thrive, not just survive. The same can be said of us. Nature has to be dark and destructive at times in order to exist. As such, we have to get through the dark days to enjoy the bright ones...both of which are magnificent in their own unique ways. 

Below are some images from the hike that I thought captured the beauty of the day

:-)

Tea Tag 8/1 - The Unknown

 

When  you are in tune with the unknown, the known is peaceful. 

This has become my favorite thus far...

Hiking - Diamond Lake

Midnight and I headed through Boulder, up Boulder Canyon, past Nederland and up to Eldora. Just beyond Eldora, the paved road ends, and if you keep following the road all the way up, you come to the "4th of July" trail head; named such because the snow doesn't melt and the trails aren't generally passable until around the 4th of July. Within the Indian Peaks mountain range, I find this one of the most beautiful places I have ever hiked. The wildflowers are spectacular, as are the waterfalls. It is always amazingly green (for Colorado) and the skies always so blue. The air so fresh and it never gets hot up there. It was a perfect day. Since this was Midnight's first time there, I took him to my favorite waterfall. It is definitely one of my favorite places on Earth.

To see the water traverse down the mountain side is remarkable to me. It is the lifeblood of the Earth. Snow melt from the Colorado alpine provides much of the water in the state. It continuously flows through Indian Peaks all summer, nourishing plants and flowers along the way. There is nothing more beautiful. Especially against the barren, rocky landscape in the near distance.

We then hiked beyond Diamond Lake and came upon another beautiful alpine lake that was completely stunning. I had never been there before and we were blessed by the fact that no one else was there. The beauty there was magnificent and absolutely breathtaking.

In all honestly, if I didn't have places like that to go, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. Nature=Shonna's God,  period. Aside from music, it keeps me in check and keeps me sane. For some reason, it is only there that I can find clarity in thought, true clarity. When there, I try to let everything go, in a meditative way. It's not easy, but that mountain range, and many others in Colorado have an energy to them that I can't even explain in words, most notably in the alpine region. It brings me an inner peace that nothing else does. It helps me see and understand things more vividly and clearly. It speaks to me in a way that nothing else can.

Watching the billowing clouds form and head east, seeing the lush green grass, colorful wild flowers and flowing waterfalls...what a miracle that something so beautiful  can even exist. Whatever force or power that created this place is truly remarkable...and this is just a minuscule piece of the wider Universe.

Entertaining and humorous side note: I like hiking to the tops of waterfalls to see what they are flowing from. Midnight and I hiked up beyond the first waterfall and through some thick trees.

I carry bear spray on most hikes, not only for bears (which I have seen at Diamond Lake), but also for creepy people (you never know). Somehow, while walking through the trees, a branch pulled off the safety lock on the spray in my backpack's side pocket. I have no idea how that is even possible, but it happened, because as I walked through the trees, it hit me...burning my throat and eyes. It was crazy. I seriously do not know how the safety lock came undone and the trigger engaged. Actually, the more I think about it, it seems nearly impossible....hmmm. Anyway, somehow it happened. I threw all my shit down and ran out of the trees, let it air out and then turned around and headed the other way...Ha!