Thomas Merton- inherently human

Thomas Merton who was inherently contradicted in his life.   Struggling to live by the constraints of his religion while knowing in his heart he needed to reach out to the woman he fell in love with in Louisville Kentucky in 1966

His work has taught us well that we must seek to perfect our inner selves through meditation and contemplation, seeking our own spirtuality.   His life teaches us still to love others and to seek that love in making our lives a richer experience, a complete life.

Silence and early morning contemplation

As I sit in early morning silence, I contemplate nature, life and my place in it.

Super full moon

Pause this evening, weather permitting and just contemplate the full moon!

Ground hogs, rabbits, coons and owls

The last few days have been wonderful.  Nearby are baby woodchucks, i.e. groundhogs eating fresh clover, young rabbits abound.  Late one evening I saw a coon exploring in a broken patch of woods and scrub.   Now I await my friendly owls, we have heard in the past both screech and hoot owls either in late twilight evening or early early morning.    Ah, the calmness of nature.

Honey bees

Yesterday while sitting on my deck I looked down at my feet and saw a honey bee.   I was glad he was alive and gathering pollen.  We all know and have heard about the great honey bee die off caused by mostly environmental factors, etc. spraying, illness induced  mites...whatever the source, our beloved bees are dying off.  It is and continues sad to think we are destroying the planet we live on and are in a race to do so.

Early morning Woodpecker

Early yesterday in my quiet contemplative drive into Logan County Kentucky, a woodpecker darted in the path of my car,  we missed by inches....... for that I am so relieved!

It was either a Hairy or Downy Woodpecker.   The Hairy is longer and is known to be a little shyer than the Downy.   But the bill length is the only real way to distinguish the different species.  Its sighting added a sweet tranquility to my early morning drive into solitudes stillness.

Screech Owl

Late yesterday evening I heard a screech in the nearby woods.   They typically sound in twilight and early dawn.  Their sound sometimes mournful but mostly to me a soothing sound of nature.