http://www.earth-dragon.net/blog Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:32:19 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Life, as we all know, can present us with moments of great beauty, astonishing peace, or simple contentment. Of course, we also must endure unforeseen obstacles and other unpleasant moments. I don't know what the ratio is, but it seems to me that the obstacles and such that we endure seem to ... http://www.earth-dragon.net/blog/?p=174 While driving to work this morning, I noticed, sitting on some small shrubs growing along the road, two goldfinches. Their vibrant, yellow colour really stood out in the grey morning. If I lived way out in the country somewhere, I would enjoy seeing the goldfinches, but it wouldn't strike me ... http://www.earth-dragon.net/blog/?p=173 The weather is rather humid this morning in Baltimore, so I was thinking about more pleasant weather. Here's a very pleasant spot: a snowy trail in the Highlands. If you listen carefully, you can hear the quiet; if you take a deep breath, you can smell the snow. http://www.earth-dragon.net/blog/?p=172 I noticed, today, that is has been a year since I posted anything here. This happened, mostly on purpose. I wanted to take a bit of a break and simply think about things. And, since I don't imagine I have much of a readership, no one was ... http://www.earth-dragon.net/blog/?p=170 So, while at work last week, I attended a little training session that was meant to show us that each of us has what we need to become what we would like to be, it is a simple matter of asking the right questions and viewing situations from the correct ... http://www.earth-dragon.net/blog/?p=166 As I'm certain many of you are feeling, I was rather surprised when I heard the news.  Michael Jackson certainly seemed troubled, but he never struck me as the drug-using / alcohol-abusing type of pop star, so, when he died at 50 -- relatively young -- I was left with a ... http://www.earth-dragon.net/blog/?p=165 That's the question that comes to mind when I look at this photo over Loch Lomond. This scene has everything: a wild sky, snowy peaks in the distance, a shadowed forest in the foreground, and a dark, menacing lake from which some creature is sure to rise at any ... http://www.earth-dragon.net/blog/?p=164 A few years ago, I visited the Fortingall Yew -- a tree growing in a small village in Scotland.  You may find it somewhat humourous to hear me say that I "visited the Fortingall Yew;" however, that was, in fact, the exact purpose of my trip to the small village ... http://www.earth-dragon.net/blog/?p=163 On the drive to work this morning, I was reminded of this photo I took a few years ago, of the winter sun flickering through a stand of pine trees near the small town of Aviemore. This morning, I was driving along a particularly wooded section of road, and the ... http://www.earth-dragon.net/blog/?p=162 ... if you could see this, everyday: I've had the great fortune to live in many different places, and I have no doubt that the variety of scenery to which I have been exposed has helped shaped the person I am today. Most notably, however, is how what I see everyday affects ... http://www.earth-dragon.net/blog/?p=161