Welcome! I am a contemplative thinker and photographer from Colorado. In this blog, you'll discover photographs that I've taken on my hiking and backpacking trips, mostly in the American West. I've paired these with my favorite inspirational and philosophical quotes - literary passages that emphasize the innate spirituality of the natural world. I hope you enjoy them!

If you'd like to purchase photo-quote greeting cards, please go to www.NaturePhoto-QuoteCards.com .


In the Spirit of Wildness,

Stephen Hatch
Fort Collins, Colorado

P.S. There's a label index at the bottom of the blog.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Being mindful of the sources of our water . . .


"Water is life's mater and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water."

Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
Hungarian biochemist


"In an age when man has forgotten his origins and is blind even to his most essential needs for survival, water along with other resources has become the victim of his indifference."

Rachel Carson
American marine biologist




Whenever I'm hiking or backpacking in the mountains near my home - especially in June during Spring snowmelt - I enjoy making a practice of contemplating the source of the very blood that flows through my veins. This past weekend, for example, I hiked - postholing much of the time - through acres of softening snowfields, slogged through innumerable marshes filled with wildflowers, forded raging streams, and filtered water from pristine subalpine lakes. I savored the fact that much of this water eventually reaches my faucet at home and then nourishes my capacity to think, to feel, to communicate, and to do spiritual practice. This means that all of the beautiful places I love best are flowing right within my body! Perhaps all of us can take some time each day to contemplate the amazing landscapes where our water comes from :)




Photos: (Top) Globeflowers proliferating in a subalpine marsh, Snowy Range, WY; (Middle) Big Creek Falls, Park Range, CO; (Bottom) Medicine Bow Peak and Lake Marie, Snowy Range, CO. These photos were taken on June 19-21, 2015

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