Opening Doors

Let me

open the door for you;

and together,

with me here in the present,

and you out there

in the future,

we can communicate

and appreciate

the beauty of nature;

God's magnificent creation,

as we sail

through our separate

and sublime

seasons of life.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: 

1. St. Elmo, Colorado

2. DuBois, Wyoming

3. Fountain, Colorado

Place

 

I have so much space

out here in the quiet country.

Over ten acres of our own woods

to walk, to explore, to learn.

Sometimes during my walks,

I just stop and contemplate

the blessings of this experience.

Each season provides a reason

to get outside and love this place.

I'm learning to listen better.

Not just to our loyal birds,

that I truly love,

but also listening to the quiet.

A privileged pleasure

that I always treasure.

I promise to take care of this space

and to share what I learn with grace,

until I can no longer roam,

and I'm brought back home;

returned to my starting place.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. & 7. All photographed in our Home Woods.

How to Read Words

 

You are reading these words

as I have written them:

Transparent as Lake Superior's water.

Clear as the night sky in the desert.

Soft as the petals of Arizona's poppies.

Colorful as October woods in Michigan.

Generous as the ocean pushing onto the shore.

Fresh as spring daffodils in your garden.

Dependable as the seasons turning.

Striving as acorns aspire to become oaks.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Whitefish Point Bird Observatory - Upper Peninsula- Michigan

2. La Jolla, California

3. Wabasis Lake Park & Campground - Kent County - Michigan

Remembering Seasons

 

We walk

through the seasons of our lives.

The snow, the cold, the blizzards.

The rain, the heat, the thunderstorms.

Wildflowers emerge in the spring woods.

Tree buds swell and unfurl new leaves.

Vibrant autumn colors

flare briefly, then die.

Winter sun slides by low in the sky.

Summer sun climbs high.

We live our lives alive,

try to thrive in each season;

remembering.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. McCarthy Lake - Kent County - Michigan

2. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

3. Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

4. McCarthy Lake - Kent County - Michigan

5. Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Coming True

 

The wind is playing

in the golden trees.

Leaves and their shadows

are meeting on the ground.

Seasons are rushing past.

The years are coming true.

Plans are not promised.

Our lives are transitory.

But I am optimistic,

and abundantly blessed.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 4. & 5. Wabasis Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

2. & 3. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

Passing Through

 

Seasons are passing through us

from this vast ocean of sky.

A soft rain shower may be rinsing your face.

The wind could be furrowing your hair.

Red and yellow leaves falling at your feet.

Snow accumulating on your shoulders.

Silver-edged clouds holding the ceiling above your head.

And the light.

It's always the light,

performing miracles

in front of your eyes.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: 

1. Buena Vista, Colorado

2. Kent County - Michigan

Reins of Time

 

Advancing steadily forward

like a sturdy workhorse,

the dependable seasons

pull through the landscape.

Pressing on with purpose,

directing the changes,

bearing the weight of another year,

under the reins of time. 

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

1. Mackinac Island ~ Michigan

Temple of Trees

 

While walking within

this temple of trees,

I stop and stand;

astonished among these

copper-colored steeples

that stand like monuments

reaching into the blue skies

of Colorado and Montana.

Ponderosa Pines,

perhaps a century old,

stand in solemn splendor

as I inhale the essence

of their vanilla-honey aroma

emitted from the sun-warmed bark.

I resume my walk

through these pillars of strength,

over the foothills

scattered with Ponderosa,

through the seasons of my life,

always grateful to enter

this temple of trees. 

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Hamilton, Montana

2. 3. & 4. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

Still 3

 

I am still listening

to wind and rivers

as they each speak

in their unique

languages.

I am still watching the clouds

as they beautify the sky,

and the rain, as it moistens

the thirsty

land.

I am still aging,

but growing in patience,

accepting the reasons for seasons

and the passage of

time.

I am still living a life

of profound attention.

Working to reveal the blessings

that surround me.

Writing, to share the miracles

in nature.

Waiting for more inspiration

to come.

Watching the long light of evening

spreading across the landscape,

and these words

spreading across long lines of the page.

Enjoying this small segment of time,

still wanting just a little more. 

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Snake River - Swan Valley, Idaho

2. Home Sky - Cannonsburg, Michigan

3. Alamosa, Colorado

4. Ada Dam - Ada, Michigan

Three Season Dance

An arching willow branch

dangles in the Thornapple River,

dancing with the current.

Resistance meets persistence.

The dance goes on...

lasts for three seasons.

Then the ice comes.

The music stops.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

Leslie Tassell Park - Cascade Township - Kent County - 

Grand River - Kent County - Michigan

  

Perceptive

I am always grateful

for the power of perception.

Deeper than simple observation,

perception contains the capacity

for emotion and passion.

While working in my spring garden,

a Song Sparrow singing sweetly

can make me suddenly attentive

to its joyful, solo performance,

carry music into my soul.

While fishing on McCarthy Lake,

I become conscious of

ballooning cumulus

reflecting on calm water,

surging into summer-blue skies.

While hiking in the Rocky Mountains,

my awareness is elevated

by golden waves of aspens

climbing slopes and ridges.

While running these country roads,

the autumn wind flings falling leaves

onto my head and torso,

producing a sensory experience.

While exploring the shoreline

of Pickerel Lake in early winter,

I witness the conversion

of water into ice.

I have become more receptive,

mindful and present;

influenced by the renewal and recurrence

of creation in all seasons.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. McCarthy Lake - Kent County - Michigan

3. Ouray, Colorado

4. Ada Township - Kent County - Michigan

5. Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

Before Bedtime

 

Just before I go to bed,

I always step outside

to look around and listen.

If it's a warm, wet spring,

the Peepers and Chorus Frogs

are calling from the wetland.

If it's a late, lazy summer,

I listen to the rasping of Cicadas

and Snowy Tree Crickets.

If it's a cool, calm autumn,

there's the faint tick of leaves

falling through dying leaves.

If it's a clear winter night,

I view a coliseum of stars

suspended in a moonless sky. 

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Video: Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. Home Woods

3. SaddleBrooke, Arizona

 

Passing Seasons

This spring and summer have passed too quickly.

I missed entirely the hidden, drooping blossoms 
of the Mayapple.

When did the Wild Columbines display
their scarlet crowns adorned with yellow?

Wild Black Raspberries have already ripened,
with Dewberries and Wild Blackberries soon to follow.

Queen Anne's Lace is thriving
along roadsides and abandoned fields.

I do not want the summer's end
to bring on the goldenrods and asters.

It will mean the approach of autumn,
and remind me of too much time
spent reading books and writing
about opportunities lost;
when I should have been
out walking everyday
in fields and woods,
along rivers and streams,
and feeling grateful for
these daily blessings
that make up the seasons
of my life. 

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. Ada Township - Kent County - Michigan

3. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

4. & 5. Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

6. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan