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About The Grotto

A Grotto is a shared, yet secret space… although difficult to find, they are more common than thought, but overlooked by most… Places like a deep cavern, revealed by the low tide, or a particularly green glade marked by a ray of sunshine… a lofty resting place high above the ground where the horizons expand and the silence pervades… Although, unseen by most whom wander by, grottoes are illuminated with clues, signs and intuition. Those whom are aware might find a bit of peace, solitude, and rejuvenation in these places.

This blog is an attempt to find a  space such as this on the web.

Alex

 

The Sky Above Leh

The Sky Above Leh

In India they say, the God that brought life into the world was himself, born in Leh… The first thing God saw when he opened his eyes, was the sky… Henceforth, the god tried and tried to create things in the world as blue as the sky, but never could.  It seems his...

Journals

Journals

- Journals - Stacks of journals on the floor. Piles of pages of insight. Filtering back through time. searching... finding old threads and grasping. Reliving the passion and dusty emotions. Turning more pages, back deeper and deeper. Crawling into the layers. Finding...

Clipped Crescent Moon

Clipped Crescent Moon

With no one else present I relate to the Self. Full-brimming with emotional solvents I dissolve all thats left. Riding no-hands smiling beneath a clipped crescent moon... With so much room, so much room beneath myself and above the sky so black and bluely true. White...

Salutations to the Sun

Salutations to the Sun

Emerging early, to catch the first rays, I walk to the knoll beneath the cherry trees. My unfurling of this tattered mat is a  quiet gesture of self-love... of devotion. An embodiment of a fiery passion for life. My intention this morning... as the mat softly lands on...

Acts of Devotion

Acts of Devotion

Patience is the science of peace. I stand here writing a love poem to the world, on the street corner of a grocery store. Watching the cars drive by, sweeping leaves away from the sliding glass door. Inside I feel the lights, the hours, the familiar faces... I feel my...

The Practice of Being in the Flow

The Practice of Being in the Flow

A state of being, an art of non-thinking,  A quiet meditation. Walking silently, aware of a billion sensations. Fine tuned, humming harmony, subtlety and with grace. Gently suspended between two goddess elms. They hold me protected and I settle into the moment. An...

Something about Sunflowers

Something about Sunflowers

Something about seven sunflowers.. Collected by bicycle, a busy bee, flying from one stand to the next, seeking beauty and feeling the Sun shine rain joy on a cloudy day. Humming old songs from Jamaica, soft green-blue harmonies under a grey and threatening sky, the...

Questioning Trees

Questioning Trees

Walking alone through the forest, I came upon two great grand-mother trees. Compelled by their size and age, I asked them each a question. Resting my hands on the scaley-yellow bark of the first I asked, "What do you have  to teach me?" Through images and feelings she...

Good Words of the Morning

Good Words of the Morning

Rising early, standing on the balcony breathing morning air. Noticing myself feeling mixed and anxious. Praying for guidance, asking the divine for comfort. Compelled to walk, I let myself be led to the river. Sitting and breathing, awaiting the rising sun. Sitting...

Triangles are my Favorite Shape

Triangles are my Favorite Shape

The Delta leaves me shifting, a change in: breathing, sensations of lifting. Where the river meets the sea, coming together of  what was, and all that potentially be. Designed simply, three points where two lines meet, with strength, embracing the "let right now be"....

The Path and its’ Wandering

The Path and its’ Wandering

I've left my home and journeyed to the other side I've gone where others told me not to go I've climbed the tall peaks of  humanity and delved into their depths And to get there I traversed through my own heart there upon the crux I sat and looked around I felt it all...

Finding the Good Light

Finding the Good Light

I went for a walk the other day trying to find good light... You'd think it being easier since it was the middle of the day... Photographing from 10am to 4pm here in Colorado is hard. We get close to a solid 300 days of beautiful sunshine... which is sweet for most...

What I Be…

What I Be…

The opening track to Micheal Franti's album, Songs from the Front Portch is "What I Be"... and It is fun to take a second and think about What it is that I Be... I've been devoting much of my time to growing into a new shell. Adorning the shell with bright scales...

A Tribute

A Tribute

The Poem below is a tribute to the photograph above... which is a tribute to all the beautiful things in life. "Life is like a river. Ever churning... bubbling and flowing over. I feel that, throughout life we get to taste many different rivers... Sometimes we get to...

Tools

Tools

We must learn to use our tools well...We are given hands to change the world, eyes to see it as it stands, and an imagination to envision the possible futures.  Tools are extensions of our hands... And we must learn to use them proficiently...  All of our tools, we...

Perins Peak

Perins Peak

It's funny to think that I've been in the same place for six weeks. Yesterday afternoon, I went on a hike to one of my favorite spots right outside of Durango and had lunch. I made my way onto a carved white pillar of sandstone, that hung prow over the valley, and was...

The 10,000’th Picture

The 10,000’th Picture

Yesterday afternoon a funny thing happened. I went on a hike up Animas Mountain, which is a large forested open space right in Durango's backyard, to get out and enjoy the prime weather that late summer and the first few days of fall provide us. Since I'm working...

Moving Forward to Durango

Moving Forward to Durango

It was just a month ago that I arrived back in the U.S., and in that short time I have had so much fun visiting with my friends and family. I've been on a few road trips and outdoor adventures, and had some time to pull my life together. I got to spend my first two...

Upon Arrival

Upon Arrival

Just hit American soil… After thirty sleepless hours standing in airport security lines, being an anonymous face in the blur of eastern travelers and wayfarers… single Indian mothers and their daughters traveling West, grandmothers in saris wearing golden earings and...

An Epic Ride to Tsomoriri

An Epic Ride to Tsomoriri

Alex: Have you ever ridden a motorcycle before Nels? Nelson: Never driven one, but I loved riding them with my friends in Nairobi… Alex: Are you any good on a mountain bike? Nelson: eh… Guy renting us the motorcycles: Don’t worry, here’s a map (hand drawn)… no, no,...

Leh – Ladakh

Leh – Ladakh

They say the color blue… has a deep connection with the city of Leh… … They say the god that brought life to the world was himself, born in Leh... And, the first thing that the god saw when he opened his eyes was sky... henceforth, the god tried and tried to make...

Houseboats

Houseboats

It’s early evening now, I’m exhausted after another long and hot day traversing Srinagar and the surrounding areas to meet people for Nelson’s project. I’m sitting in the airy front verandah of a houseboat, watching the sunset over the sheet-metal roofs of the stilted...

Tashi Delek! Hey everybody, I finally have some time to sit down in the internet cafe and give you all an update. Things have been going really well here. I've been trying to stay cool as it has been in the high 90's here... That means trying to stay out of the main...

McLeod Ganj

McLeod Ganj

Thought I would give you all an update on life in McLeod Ganj... McLeod is the uppermost section of a larger urban area called Dharamsala. It's a haphazard network of rugged streets and allies that follow the steep terrain of the hill it sits on. From most places in...

Ashoka

Ashoka

Thought I would share this photo with you all... This is an image of the Ashoka Prayer Wheels in the Dalai Lama's Temple. The prayer wheels are engraved with the om-ma-ni-pad-me-om mantra. Among many things mantra represents generosity, ethics, patients, diligence,...

Movin’ Up

Movin’ Up

It feels like the dam has let loose...The potential has turned to kinetic.... the theoretical, is now actual, and the dream has now become a reality. After years of planning, researching, saving and aligning action with intention, I find myself  sitting on the roof of...

Gettin’ Down in Delhi

Gettin’ Down in Delhi

Jet lag is an interesting phenomena. I heard once that when one travels to a distant place very quickly, that it takes a while for your soul to catch up with you. I'm not sure about my soul yet... but, my body was definitely a bit aggravated being tossed on the other...