Category Archives: Seasons

Re-Entry

Jun
06
2014
by IBK | 1 Comment

©2014 IBKimage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello dear readers. It’s been a while but somehow today seems to be the end of something and a gradual re-entry into something else.  After weeks of pitching, condensing and packing to put our house on the market here in Denver, and partially moving into a rental apartment on the 9th floor overlooking the Denver Botanic Garden, I needed renewal.  My camera parts were still in the case and I was too fatigued to lug anything else around, so on a late afternoon visit the other day, I grabbed my cell-phone and took a quick walk to the garden before closing.

Surprise, surprise, the new Chihuly glass sculpture exhibit which opens on June 14 and continues into November, was starting to appear in the garden pools and paths. For the next hour I forgot all but the beauty in front of me .  I got out my cell-phone camera and took a few pictures to map  shots for a more detailed shoot at a later date.  It was at that moment that I realized that during one of the most stressful times and transitions in my adult life, I had forgotten to do what brings me great joy and peace as a counter- balance to all of the chaos. And so it goes.

Hoping that as you continue with transitions in your own life, that you remember to include what brings you joy and renewal on your list of many tasks.

I’d also like to encourage you to check out more about Dale Chihuly at www.chihuly.com

IBK

Also posted in Seeing In New Ways Tagged , , , |

Ah, Spring

Apr
11
2014
by IBK | 0 Comments

IBKimage ©2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, it seems to be spring more than just according to the calendar, and I hope that where you are , there are  surprises in your surroundings (or perhaps your hearts) that seemed so hidden during this especially long winter.  In my first spring here in Denver (2009) I was just learning how to use a digital  camera that I had purchased in 2008 when there were many transitions that were important to capture for later viewing: one son graduating from college, another getting married 2 weeks later, and a move to a new city after 40 years in another.

So, on a beautiful spring morning I walked down to Sloan’s Lake  about 15 minutes from my home and  began the 2 1/2 mile trail around the lake, camera in hand, looking for a picture “to take.”   Fortunately I didn’t find one, rather it found me.  Today’s image is one of five that someone carved on the trunks of large trees that had been cut down perhaps because of disease, but rather, I imagine, to make room for a new playground right next to it/them.

Wishing you delight and joy as you wander into a new season with it’s promises, perhaps also some pruning to make room for something yet to grow.

IBK

 

 

 

 

 

Also posted in New Beginning, Pruning Tagged , , , , |

Something Old is New Again

Aug
30
2013
by IBK | 0 Comments

©IBKimage 2012

 

It’s very interesting how things that we’re struggling with “all of a sudden” resolve.  One day, without notice, something that has been taking away so much of our physical and mental effort, finds it proper proportion in our life, or even disappears.  It was one of those weeks for me.  I was grateful for a negative result on a diabetes test and all that would have implied.  The gratitude turned into action as I examined the layers of denial that I had piled on during the last few months.

All of the things that I can do, (and know how to)  to stay healthy, both physically and emotionally and spiritually, I decided to take a sabbatical from.  Who knows if it was rebellion, passive-agressive behavior, or perhaps  just a realization that in our very human transitions, we sometimes just need  a long “soak” in a dry tub. Having no idea of what’s next, but trusting my creator,redeemer,sustainer to provide what I don’t even know I need.  Until then, we can take small next actions, engaging again in habits that satisfy and then gradually … the old is new again.

Today’s image comes from the Queen City Salvage Yard here in Denver; a delightful garden of oldness tucked underneath a busy I 70 East viaduct.  Here so close and yet so far away from the cacophony of daily activity, are yesterdays front doors, and old car bodies; tools and gadgets from another time, once on grandfather’s tool bench; and rusted hand pumps used to bring cool water to the farm and town kitchens before pvc pipe carried the running water to the faucet.

The paint is peeling on the door in our image but look at the beautiful grain and pattern underneath.  Someone will find this new old door and in just the right season – wherever it goes, it will be just the right thing .

IBK

Also posted in Aging, Blessings, Courage, Letting Go, New Beginning Tagged , , , , , , |

New Beginnings

Aug
23
2013
by IBK | 1 Comment

©IBKimage2012

 

Dear Readers, I’m back from my summer sabbatical of sorts and happy to be. The discipline of a weekly blog makes me think more clearly about a theme that I’d like to explore and during the week I receive a phrase here and there, read a sentence in a book, hear a song  or interview on the radio and so on.

Like little grains of sand that collectively become the beach, these bits of blessings gradually form a word pattern. When  partnered with an image, a story emerges. At other times a picture is the theme and provides a wonderful opportunity to process the many distinct experiences I’ve had in a week and try to make some sense of it.

Sometimes in the days and weeks that seemingly fly by while one is confronted with the realities of being human – illness, death, major life transitions, celebrating milestones, mending relationships, moving, fatness, and so on,the very things that can help us along the way through, are often the tools that sit idly in the shed.

As I bemoan the fact that my image making and “wordsmithing”have taken a backseat this summer, I realize, like the small tiles in todays image, when joined together a beautiful pattern make, that the small  acts of presence and and listening, and celebration, and grief, and encouragement,and humor, are all  a way that love can illuminate the darkness and elevate the joys.

Delighted to be back “in the saddle.”

IBK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also posted in Aging, Blessings, New Beginning Tagged , , , , , |

Swimming

Jul
19
2013
by IBK | 2 Comments

 

 

Hello Dear Readers,

Like the beautiful colored trout in a Colorado stream, I’ve been a bit “under water” (groan) for the last few weeks and thus no blog.  In addition to the opportunities and change in routine in the heat of summer, there have been major transitions in our small family and in the lives of many I have the privilege to interact and “do life” with.  The biggest change came with the death of our brother-in-law a month ago.  Family gathered as they do to love and support one another and a season begins as we learn to live in our lives without our loved one.

 

The summer so far has been a reminder of the importance of time well spent with the dying as well as the living; of renewed relationship contacts with old as well as new friends; of reminders that new seasons require adjustments in thinking and release of long held habits and shedding of things we no longer need or even want.

So, I’m still a bit overwhelmed and  a little lost with  a few things that require my attention, but watching our visiting grand-nephew swim yesterday, while sitting in the shade and just being in the moment, reminded  again, that new seasons bring new … opportunities to respond to our situations.

I’ll be back in mid-August on a regular weekly basis to share more Words and Images.

Until then, the best to you and yours,

IBK

 

 

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Stop

May
31
2013
by IBK | 3 Comments

©IBKimage 2012

 

 

Having always been a curious sort from the time I was young, I’d sometimes get into trouble – especially if I asked people about things they’d  rather not disclose.  The phrase then was:  “Stop being so nosy”, or the firmer:  “mind your own business.”  I was always wondering how things worked and would order things like seeds to sell to the older single and widowed ladies in town , ostensibly to save them a trip to the store, but the true reward was the gift of time, conversation, and …a cookie or candy.  Most of the changes in my life were as a result of my interests and explorations and the freedom to experiment and change course.

 

Well into adulthood , I still had that luxury, but somewhere along the way, I found myself getting into trouble again because I was so curious about so many things, in addition to family and other responsibilities, that I kept  trying to devise systems to get and stay organized … this eventually became a career and I helped other people do that … and now today so many years later, I am overwhelmed by the choices that vie for my attention: travel here, try this, donate now,upgrade,download, only $2.00 for an e-book, press the button … Amazon delivers, punch your frequent buyer card and so on …  all of these opportunities can easily morph into agony of decision.

 

Today’s image of my hands  is a made on an ®iPad  in a program called ®Photo Booth, which allows the manipulation of images in a variety of ways.  Somehow it captures the paradox of the possibility  and an open handed prayer / plea for wisdom to minimize the choices that keep us bound.  I remember the gift of love, in those gifts of time and attention and treats, and want to offer that to a new generation.  To do so, I have to  hit the delete button on so many of the things that I routinely do… even if they’re great things – just not my things.  What about you?

Also posted in Aging, Blessings, Courage, Letting Go, Wisdom Tagged , , , , |

Endings

Apr
26
2013
by IBK | 1 Comment

©2011MarkMatoon

 

With major transitions, come new challenges and responses.  This sound so obvious, but ask the survivors of a bombing in Boston if their lives will not be forever changed as they navigate their way through through emotional, physical, and spiritual challenges? How about our neighbors in Texas whose town blew up ?  What about the newly diagnosed cancer patient whose journey into the unknown is beginning?  And yet in all of these cases we’ve seen people step forward and surround those hurting, with “gifts of themselves” offered in love and compassion.

 

Most of our transitions are not this abrupt but the years spent in habit whether fruitful or barren, do seem to provide a well to draw on (or not) when our world and our relationships seem to be (or are) crumbling all around us.   Major transitions and pain also seem  to, after a time, help us see new ways that we might choose to adapt to our new “normals.”  Fire most certainly destroys, but it also refines and provides the fuel for our basic survival needs.

 

None of what I’m saying is new, but perhaps I’m reminded again that when our lives  change, whether in sickness or in health (or in death and destruction of recent days) we can boldly enter the wilderness of transition and perhaps marvel at how love finds us us when we are lost and broken. No matter what your transition, find a place of sabbath where you can “lay it all down” and slowly discover what your heart tells you to “pick up again” … leaving behind the demands and expectations of others; and the self created  burdens of perfection, “more” and “faster.”

Today’s image was taken by a photographer,  with whom I studied,on Nantucket Island in June of 2011, a few months after my mother died. The ocean always draws me to itself, and provides the water for my thirst.

IBK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also posted in Courage, Letting Go, New Beginning, Seeing In New Ways Tagged , , , , , , |

Mar
29
2013
by IBK | 2 Comments

©IBKimage 2012

 

When my oldest son was little I gave him a book that was in my toy consultant  sample packet.  The title:  “Little While Friends.”  He received it just before we went on a family road trip one summer where we explored three towns named Keystone in three states … among other things.  Stopping to climb rocks or while visiting a snake attraction, he would often find little while friends to interact with.  They didn’t have the same stature as friends from home or the familiarity and commitment of family, but it taught him early on that there are interesting people and sights all around that satisfy. Perhaps, like a beautiful mixed bouquet of flowers in a vase from the floral shop; they are precious because they are a fragile, time-limited treasures.

Now these little while friends don’t always have to be people … the beauty of nature in it distinct seasons, the gift of artists helping us enter into a place we hadn’t considered before; musicians stirring our souls; delight with new learning and new technologies that improve our daily living and help to restore in some manner what has been lost … but generally, it’s people we continually seem to say goodbye to; at airports and graduations, weddings and job changes, first day of school and retirement, and then a final ending whose tension we all live with confronted with so many “little while” choices, actions and engagements.

Our layered wall hanging in today’s image, by a fiber artist in Omaha, NE provided a little while delight on a restaurant wall, as a long time friend and I cherished precious time together over a meal,but more importantly it also reminds me that no matter how dark it might be, the light is thankfully always present. The story of death and resurrection, mourned and celebrated is thankfully” little while” and eternal.

IBK

 

 

Also posted in Aging, Authenticity, Courage, Seeing In New Ways Tagged , , , , , , , , |

A Man and His Sons

Mar
01
2013
by IBK | 0 Comments

©IBKimage1989

 

February is a frequent  birthday month in our small family, including my own, so I gave myself a two week sabbatical from blogging.

I pinpoint the time that I became a photographer  to the  Spring of 2008, when I took my year old digital point and shoot camera to Seattle with me on a return visit to the neighborhood where I had lived for 2 plus years while attending graduate school as an  “over 50”, and more importantly  to reunite with friends from my time there.  My friend B. took my husband and I to a small Japanese garden  and it was really through her encouragement that I started to “see in new ways”.  She had such a wonderful sense of composition with her own photography, that I was inspired to keep going.

Several years ago I scanned all of our old film photos into the computer and today as I was reviewing some, I came across today’s image which I took on an old film camera , so a seed was perhaps planted then that finally sprouted in another season.  It was especially poignant since the guy in the red shorts turned 28 today.

I’m reminded of the beautiful lyrics of a song from the old musical, “Fiddler on the Roof; sunrise, sunset,swiftly flow the years, one season following another, laden with happiness and tears; …”    No matter how young or old we are, it matters that we are present in other peoples’ lives and that we engage with others in relationship.  My friend’s love and encouragement started a whole new way of seeing for me, and allowed me to share my words and images with you 5 years later.

Think of someone that had that effect on you and how it’s changed your life.

IBK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also posted in Inspiration, Seeing In New Ways, Uncategorized Tagged , , , , |

Night Sky

Jan
04
2013
by IBK | 0 Comments

©IBKimage2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I grew up in a small village in South Central Nebraska.  Whenever I wanted to see the stars on a clear night, I looked up.  Living in a city these many years later, I can look up and see some stars in my neighborhood, but not the unobstructed view of my childhood.  Stars light if you will.  I have a desire this year to intentionally spend some time in places with a plethora of unobstructed stars, but in the meantime I wander in my city at night and am delighted to capture the beauty of light illuminating human craft.

Perhaps what I’m really thinking about in this new year is that I’d like to focus  on “blooming where I’m planted.” Observing and listening and delighting in what is, and deepening the learning in some of what I’m already engaged in, but also leaving room to be delighted and surprised about what is “out there.”

Today’s image is  near Union Station, in downtown Denver.

Happy New Year to you and yours!

IBK

Also posted in New Beginning Tagged , , , |