Saturday, October 20, 2012

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 163~ RRC: Leaves



"The fall of a leaf is a whisper to the living."

~Russian Proverb

Round Robin Challenge: Leaves

It's THAT time of year! My favorite time of the year... Autumn. I love it! I live for it! I fell in love in Autumn! I got married in Autumn! Hopefully, one day, a long time from now, I will draw my last breath in Autumn. But one can't really plan those things, and I wouldn't waste one moment of autumn trying to, no... I will just keep looking for one more Autumn leaf because no two are exactly alike, and I wouldn't want to miss a single one!

From My Autumn Gallery Past And Present...

Autumn In Glen Ellen, Ca, October 17th 2012





Autumn At The Quarryhill Botanical Garden, Glen Ellen, Ca, October 17th 2012



Autumn In The Quarryhill Vineyard, Glen Ellen, Ca October 17th 2012







Autumn In Apple Hill



Autumn In Reno, Nevada 2005



Autumn In Carson City, Nevada 2005



Autumn In Danville, Ca 2007



Autumn In Blackhawk Ca, November 2011





"Let your life lightly dance on the edges of TIME like dew on the tip of leaf a leaf."

~Rabindranath Tagore

Be sure to visit all the participants in this week's challenge. You can get all the details to play along, and the links to see what everyone else came up with by clicking the link above.

~Me :)

PS: Please visit my pal JR's blog. He has been a good friend and loyal participants in my photography projects! Plus he is an awesome photographer! You will discover a true gem by visiting his photoblog!

JR
http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/10/apadf6-161.html

Friday, October 19, 2012

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 162~Come Ride The Duck



"A man who stand on hill with mouth open will wait long time for roast duck to drop in."

~Confucious

Today... I was a duck. Quack. Quack Quack. And it was a perfect day to get my quack on. The temperature in the city was around 90 degrees, which was awesome because even the summer is usually cold. But we are in the perfect season... autumn... and autumn never lets me down. :)

Scenes From A Duck.

A View Of The City From The Bay Bridge...



Meet Captain Roger...

 

The Bay Bridge As Seen From The Bay...



AT&T Park From McCovey Cove...



A Different View Of Downtown San Francisco...

 

After We Stopped Splashing Around In The Water, It Was Time For Dinner...

 
 


And Then On The Way Home The Beach Looked So Calm And Lovely...



It Was A Good Day!

Quack!

"Always behave like a duck... keep calm and unruffled on the surface but paddle like the devil underneath."

~Jacob Braude

PS: Did you catch the orbs in the first picture? The ghosts continue to follow me. :)

~Me :)

Now, go say QUACK to my pal JR. He is an awesome photographer, and he has been very supportive of my project! Thanks again JR! :)

JR
 http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/10/apadf6-160.html




Thursday, October 18, 2012

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 161~ Now You See Them...



"It's easier to dismiss ghosts in the daylight."

~Patricia Briggs, Dragon Bones

Yesterday, we went to Quarryhill Botanical garden in beautiful Glen Ellen. I love going to the North Bay, but we don't go as often as I would like. Time just is what it is, that's why we make the most of our vacation month of October. Quarryhill was a new place for us, I had heard that it was a magnificent garden of around 22 acres. What I hadn't heard was that its trails were difficult to walk on. They were. At least for me. The grounds themselves were nice, but not the best I have seen. Through the whole place I only saw one bench, but to be fair there was a nice outdoor arbor with ample shade and plenty to see, such as the gorgeous hummingbirds.

The plants themselves were ok, but not spectacular. It was what it was. To be honest, I enjoyed the gorgeous vineyard on the grounds. The lighting yesterday was awesome! What I didn't appreciate was the many "Beware Of Rattlesnakes" warning signs throughout the garden. It would have been nice if I would have known that was a possible danger before I purchased the Groupon. Sigh. It's not like I don't know that there are such creatures in California, but it's the first time I have seen that particular warning at a public garden. Awesome! :(

"I don't suppose you have to believe in ghosts to know that we are all haunted, all of us, by things we can see and feel and guess at, and many more things we can't."

~Beth Gutcheon



Still I got some nice photos which I will be sharing over the next couple weeks. For now, I thought it would be fun to share the photos I took in the vineyard upon arrival. Gorgeous, plump, luscious, fragrant, tender purple grapes. Ripe and ready to become wine. Yes please. Oh, but lookie there... do you see the orbs? Is this vineyard haunted? That's what orbs are... right? At least that is what I have heard! If the small ghostly balls are indeed ghosts... who might they be? Ghosts of visitors to the garden who were killed by rattlesnakes? Ghosts of former inhabitants of the property? Ghost of the grapes themselves? Hmmm... If so, would the ghosts be better characterized as... spirits? Get it? Spirits! LOL.

Seriously... what are your thoughts? Are orbs ghosts, or are they a common, simple trick of light?

I usually don't photograph many orbs, but yesterday I caught them in quite a few different places in my travels. When I did, I tried to immediately take another picture for comparison. Sometimes they were there in the second photo and sometimes they weren't. Curious.

"The muses are ghosts and sometimes they are uninvited."

~Stephen King


~Me :)

Let's go see what JR is up to, shall we?

JR
http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/10/apadf6-159.html



Wednesday, October 17, 2012

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 160: Mr Slippendicker's Big Day



"Trust not in Sprites nor the motivations of a Gnome."

~Jefferson Smith, Strange Places

In my travels the other day, I came across a yard with perhaps 200 garden gnomes in it. They faced ever direction, and no two were exactly alike. In addition to the gnomes population, there were at least 10 or 15 gargoyles here and there. At first I thought perhaps they were on display for Halloween, but upon further viewing it became apparent that every day is perhaps Halloween. LOL. I like garden gnomes, but I am not 100 % sure I trust them. LOL. I have had one or two incidents in which I was pretty sure that a gnome was responsible for my having tripped or fallen. How do I know it was a gnome to blame? Well, you see, I could kinda hear the sound of evil, far off laughter, as I landed on my rear end and slid down a muddy lump of a hill. Gnome-like laughter. I know what you are thinking... and yes... it could have been a neighbor, but something tells me it was more than likely a gnome. An evil gnome! Yep! A gnome!

His name was probably Mr. Slippendicker.

Or maybe I am a klutz.

LOL.

~Me :)

Now, go see what my friend JR is sharing with us today. He's awesome!

JR
http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/10/apadf6-158.html


Tuesday, October 16, 2012

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 159~ Oh The Lemons I Have Known



"When life gives you lemons, vote the bums out of office!"

~Me

Okay, I am pretty sure I wasn't the first person to say that, but in that I received my Absentee Ballot in the mail yesterday, I am relatively sure whoever did say it first wouldn't be too mad about me borrowing it.

Sigh.

The national election is only three weeks away, and I am really not sure about much of it. I don't want to vote because I feel like I have to, because voting gives me that option. Not voting IS voting. My heart is sick about the presidential election. I know I was impressed with Joe Biden when he debated Paul Ryan last week. He did good! He made me proud. But lets face it... he won't be the president, at least not yet. He could be in four years I suppose, and if so, I think he would be a much different leader than President Obama has been.

Sigh.

 Deciding my vote for president aside, California has a number of propositions that I have been waiting to see for a long time. Prop 34, 35, 36, and 37. 34 in particular is one I care about passionately. It would abolish the death penalty in California. There is so much wrong and disturbing to me about the death penalty, and I won't inflict my opinions and reasoning here, but I will say that I find it disturbing that America is the last of the industrialized nations to still carry out this barbaric act. I wish it was a national issue, rather than a state one, but perhaps one day it will be. Hopefully.

Okay, I have some thinking to do tonight... lol... a funny thought all it's own! LOL. If all goes as scheduled today, we will be in Glen Ellen for most of the day! The botanical garden awaits. It's going to be hot and amazingly lovely. This has been a gorgeous October. Now, off to get some blackberries and raspberries ready for the trip. Is there anything more lovely than a picnic lunch in the country?

Now, for your amusement, a collection of quotes about lemons...

"When life gives you lemons, squirt someone in the eye."
~Cathy Guisewite

"When life gives you lemons, chunk it right back."
~Bill Watterson

"I believe when life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade... and try to find someone whose life has given them vodka, and have a party."
~Ron White

"When life gives you lemons... You might as well shove'em where the sun don't shine, because you sure as hell aren't ever going to see any lemonade."
~Rob Thurman, Nightlife

"When life gives you lemons, make assless chaps."
~Angie West

All pretty good advice methinks. :) By the way, are you going to watch the Town Hall Debate tonight? I rather like that format, hopefully Obama will be a little more on the ball. We'll see.

~Me :)


Today's Link Comes By Way Of My Pal JR. Go See What He's Up To...

JR
http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/10/apadf6-156.html

Monday, October 15, 2012

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 158 Sunshine



"Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot; others transform a yellow spot into the sun."

~ Pablo Picasso

Last week when we were in Apple Hill the sun was out for maybe 15 minutes the whole day. The weather was so bad that we had considered maybe postponing our trip for a few days because lightning and thunder was promised, but in the end we decided to soldier on. I am glad we did. There was some light rain, but it was a welcome relief from the humidity. All in all it was my kind of day!

As I said, the sun did come out for a little bit, and when it did, I just happened to be at an amazingly beautiful garden spot along the Apple Hill route. I spent about a half hour walking the path through the different autumn themed garden of mums and the occasional rose. It was gorgeous! And at just the right moment the lighting changed from dark to an amazing golden ray the landed in this patch of yellow daisy mums. It was truly a matter of having been at the right place at the right time.

This next week is looking good for our plans. We have the botanic garden in Glen Ellen and the Duck sightseeing and bay tour. I have my quack on and I am ready to go!

Quack Quack Quack Quack.

"Silence is not always golden, sometimes it's yellow!"

~Unknown

~Me :)

Now, go see what my friend JR is up to... he's an awesome photographer!

JR
http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/10/apadf6-155.html

Sunday, October 14, 2012

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 156~ Darkness And Fog Shrouding Angel Island



"Who is that trip-trapping upon my bridge?" Miss Davies spoke in the low, growling tones of the troll in the story. Some of the little ones covered their mouths and giggled, but most only watched her solemnly, accepting the voice of the troll as they accepted the voices of their dreams, and their grave eyes reflected the eternal fascination of the fairy tale. Would the monster be bested... or would it feed?"

~ Stephen King, IT.

It wouldn't be October without watching Stephen King's IT. Of all of Stephen King's magnificently written horror, IT is the story that captures my attention the most. There is a lot about it that I can identify with. Loss of a friend to an untimely death as a child. Bullies. Fighting through the fear... whatever the fear, and remembering as an adult that sometimes you have to tap into what motivated you as a child, to survive being an adult. It always amazes me when I encounter someone who carries a behavior of bullying past the age of 15. My neighbor is a bully. At least he thinks he is, but like with most bullies, he is legend in his own mind. I feel sorry for him more than anything else.


Anyway, if you haven't already saw the TV movie IT, or read the book, I highly recommend it! It's perfect for a foggy October night, with Halloween right around the corner!

"Come on back and we'll see if you remember the simplest thing of all... how it is to be children, secure in belief and thus afraid of the dark."

~Stephen King, IT.

:)

~Me

Today's Link comes by way of my pal JR. GO SAY HI! :)

JR
http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/10/apadf6-154.html