If Every Day Were Saturday And Every Month October

"I wish that ever day was Saturday,

 and every month was October."

~Charmaine J. Forde

It's A Mystery

Cat? Chicken? Or Owl?

This is the last of this particular sunset from October. It was October 25th, in the Central Valley, and it had been a glorious autumn day! Warm... almost too warm... and delicious! Alan took me out that day to search for all things autumn! Leaves, trees, birds, light. Autumn sunlight. Well, I found all those things and more! We took along some snacks, of apples and cheese. The taste of a really cold apple, on a warm autumn day is incredible! I enjoy our little getaways so much, and at the end of an almost perfect day, we were treated to this amazing fire in the sky. As we drove back home, past all the barns and vineyards of the valley, I did a series of photographs as we drove, and this picture was in the folder, ready to be posted at last. 

When I clicked on it, I noticed, for the first time, that in the right corner was a small oddly shaped object, just beyond the fence. Was it a chicken? A Cat? To tell you the truth, I am really not sure! I tried enlarging it, but I still can't say in absolute certainty what it is, but I think it might be an owl! I have been wanting to see one, and I kinda have a couple times, the problem is, when I usually spot them, we are driving past at 50 mph, it's at dusk and they are ground level. Those are not ideal conditions for spotting owls, let alone photographing them, but that is what I have to work with. Anyway, the shape seems right, but it also does if it is a cat or a chicken, so who knows? But I am leaning toward it being an owl, sitting on a piece of wood. How about you, care to guess?

#78 Leaf Of The Day

December 8th 2018

Photographed September 29th 2018

Cull Canyon

Samsung

~Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Late Autumn Daydreams Of Winter And Summer

Snow Mail

March 3rd, 2018

Placer County, California

Nikon

 

"I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again."

 

~Lewis Carroll

Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

&

Through The Looking Glass

 

We are getting late in the year, so this post consists of photos that I took this past year, and for whatever reason I chose to not post. Some of them probably didn't fit with the subject I was addressing, or maybe I just wasn't feeling particularly creative in the moment, who knows? But I learned a long time ago, from my friend Steven, that it's always a good idea to go through your photographs at the end of a year, and take a second look around. You might just find a gem, here and there, that will touch something inside you, long after the original moment of inspiration is over. I learned so much from him, sigh, I miss him very much! By the way, if you look very closely at the snow photo above, you will see a few little flakes of snow that were beginning to fall, just as I took the picture. It made me so happy inside, to have that moment really come together!

 

White Prickly Poppy

June 17th 2018

Cull Canyon

Nikon

 

#76 Leaf Of The Day

December 7th, 2018

Photographed  November 21st 2018

Sacramento, California

Samsung

 

 

~Mood: Quiet

~Me 

Barbarism And Decadence

"America is the only country that went from

 barbarism to decadence

 without civilization in between."

~Oscar Wilde 

I took this picture of the flag, when I saw it hanging in a window in Berkeley, earlier this year. I took the original photo in color, but when I went to edit it, and get frame it for this post, I realized that I couldn't do it. I couldn't post the original as I took it, because I am beginning to not recognize the flag's colors anymore. Don't get me wrong, I am not relapsing into Anhedonia, I am just beginning to not understand what America, and it's colors, stand for anymore.

Is it the mass incarceration of 14,000 children, separated from their parents, and held in tent cities at the boarder? Is it a president who spends his time each day, harassing folks who he feels don't worship at his feet? Is America all about the blatant stealing of elections in North Carolina or about having a president so nasty, and unchecked, that he is being asked to not speak at funerals? How about the hiring of wildly unqualified individuals to work in our government? Maybe it's about a president who uses his position, as the leader of the free world, for his own personal profit? Is that all okay now, as long as he brings enough, and the right kind, of hate?

I am beginning to not recognize the colors of America, and yet I was born an American, and will probably die an American. I am terrified of what will come out, when the full story of Trump's behavior and activities are finally revealed. And it will, one day, be fully laid open, bare bones to the world. So, what will it say about not just him, but us. You and me and the men and women standing next to us? Think about it. No matter how you voted, there will ALWAYS be a chapter in history books, probably titled simply...

 Donald Trump.

Donald John Trump, a man who only understands

 barbarism and decadence.

How else could it be titled? He has done so many egregious things, that future generations won't be able to choose just one incident to address. Brinkmanship. Kidnapping. His recent self-descriptive title of The King of Tariffs? How about the chapter being titled, He Was A Very Stable Genius? Again, self-described. Who knows? I am pretty sure it is something most Americans don't think about it. Why should they? Either they will still be supporters, even after all the revelations have come to light, or like me, I will grieve this time the rest of my life, so why think about what America will be thought of, a hundred years from now! And yet I do.

This is an unrelenting time of grief for me. I miss America. The America that stood for values. Remember when the Republican party claimed to stand for "family values"? Well, they are now supporting a man who admits to grabbing women by the pussy. Who harasses people he doesn't like. Bad mouths former presidents. Tells Americas national security secrets, to hostile foreign nations. Lies to the American people daily. And says nothing about the GOP, in Wisconsin, stripping the incoming, democratically elected governor, of his powers to run the state? Well, you get it. You know the list. Like I said, future generations will probably have to call this era, simply...

 Donald J. Trump.

Eventually this time will be over. And I know that as relieved I might be, I also wonder just how deep within our government, the damage has been done. Will we fully ever know? Perhaps. But it will take a long time to clean up the mess. And understand, his impeachment will not make me happy. He and his family going off to jail will not make me happy, because it will mean a permanent stain on America, forever.

 Forever. Forever. Forever. 

Forever.

Forever.

Forever.

My father was a child of the "Greatest Generation" and I miss him very much. I wish I could sit down with him, and talk to him about this time in America, but he passed away in 1995. While I can't have that longed for conversation, I do still turn my eyes toward Heaven and occasionally ask, Dad, can you believe this? My dad always knew what to say, when life got scary. I miss his unique perspectives, now more than ever! But in this dark time, with a man sitting in the Oval Office that my father considered to be an absolute idiot, the first time he heard him speak, I am glad he's not here to go through this stressful time. I am thankful that he didn't have to see what's become of the America he loved so much.

Dad, can you believe this?

#76 Leaf Of The Day

December 6th 2018

Photographed October 14th 2018

Sacramento, California

Samsung

"The autumn leaves blew over the moonlit pavement in such a way as to make the girl who was moving there seem fixed to a sliding walk, letting the motion of the wind and the leaves carry her forward. The trees overhead made a great sound of letting down their dry rain." 

~Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451

~Mood: Sad

~Me

 

Autumn In New York

"Don't you just love New York in fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils, if I knew your name and address."

~Nora Ephron

You've Got Mail

One day, while on his way home from work, Alan spotted this cool sign. Two of my favorite things in one place! New York and Coca-Cola! The sign is not in New York, obviously, it is downtown Stockton, but it's kinda cool, and it was fun to photograph it! I took it last June, as I was getting myself prepared to take on autumn, 2018! I have been struggling with inspiration this year, like no other since I began blogging in 2003, but things feel like they are looking up. I am trying to feel more upbeat, unfortunately, upbeat isn't something one can force, either you feel it or you don't. 

Anyway, it's a daydream of mine to do my Autumn Leaf Of The Day series, with autumn leaves I find in Central Park. From all the pictures I have seen of New York, in autumn, I think I would be still smiling the following august, from the joy of one autumn season, in the Big Apple! Even if the snow came early, I would continue to search for them, you know me, I would hate to think I missed a single one! I have the whole romantic adventure plotted out in my imagination. Alan, me, my camera, and lots of leaves.

One Day. Some Day. 

#75 Leaf Of The Day

December 5th 2018

Photographed October 14th 2018

Sacramento, California

Samsung

~Mood: Happy
~Me :)

Etheral Substances

"To hear never heard sounds

To see never seen colors and shapes

To try to understand the imperceptible

Power pervading the world;

To fly and find pure ethereal substances

That are not of matter

But of that invisible soul pervading reality. 

To hear another soul and to whisper to another soul;

To be a lantern in the darkness

Or an umbrella in a stormy day;

To feel much more than know.

To be the eyes of an eagle, slope of a mountain;

To be a tree and read the memory of the leaves;

To be a wave understanding the influence of the moon;

To be a tree and read the memory of the leaves;

To be an insignifican pedestrian on the strees

Of crazy cities watching, watching, and watching.

To be a smile on the face of a woman.

And shine in her memory

As a moment saved without planning."

~Dejan Stojanovk

For the most part, I prefer to photograph my autumn leaves where they fall. I do some editing, and I try to show them through my eyes, because sometimes I see beyond what's really there, to the painting I would do, if I were a painter, and not a photographer. My impressionist view.  But sometimes there is so much to admire, that there is simply no way to capture all of them individually. So here are the leaf collections, I didn't touch or disturb, while I was searching for just the right leaf to highlight as part of my, Leaf Of The Day, collections. It just seemed like a shame, to not let them have their day too! They worked all year to become the beautiful leaves they are!

And Now The Leaf Of The Day...

#74 Leaf Of The Day

December 4th 2018

Photographed November 11th 2018

Stockton, California

Samsung

~Mood: Happy
~Me :)

Tipsy At The Party

La Nebbia Winery

Half Moon Bay, California

"What I don't like about office Christmas parties

 is looking for a job the next day."

~Phyllis Diller 

Oh yes, Christmas parties... I HATE THEM! I always have. Family Christmas parties. Work Christmas parties. Church Christmas parties... I HATE THEM ALL! It seems during Christmas time there is a certain way we are all expected to behave, and if I'm not feeling it, so what? I/We are expected to put on a joyous face, and show up, and be jolly! Now don't get me wrong, I don't hate Christmas itself, but growing up, my family could best be described as, well, mostly unstable around the holidays! Parents fighting. Sister and brother missing in action, and when they were around it was just more of the same, only louder and with their unique spin of stuff being thrown at each other. Mom would get pissed at Dad, and throw the ham away, and instead make beans and biscuits for Christmas dinner. It wasn't much fun.

I like Christmas, but I like Halloween better, and always will! Now, to be fair, I am a grown up adult lady now, and Christmas, and actually the holidays in general, are what you make of them. Since Alan and I got married, we have had more than one Christmas adventure, and we love the fun we have had. Like the year, I think our fourth as a married couple, when we had two Christmas trees in one year, because one of our trees went completely brown, brittle and dangerous, five days before Christmas! Or the time when Alan and I decided to do a destination Christmas, and we drove to a fabulous little inn, located along the Central Coast of California. 

We loaded up the car with a tiny artificial tree, all our packages, and hit the road, leaving behind our perplexed, fighting families. We just went. The drive was perfect, almost no one on the road. It was reasonably sunny in the morning, and just chilly enough at night to make hot chocolate taste magnificent. From our dinner reservation request form, we both chose, Ham for our entree, which came with scalloped potatoes, cinnamon apples, and creamed peas. Dessert would be the apple pie. It was all set, dinner would be served in the main dining-room of the hotel's restaurant at 8:30 pm.

We arrived at 8 pm, and were seated promptly. The waitress who seated us seemed nice, but not overly friendly, which was fine. She brought us our water, checked our reservation card, and left for the kitchen. Alan and I assumed we would be getting our meals a little early, but when the waitress left, she didn't return! AT ALL! In fact, all the wait staff who seated the 8:00 pm reservation guests, seemed to disappear, all at once!

Well, a half hour went by, then an hour went by, and not a single waitress or waiter had been seen! 10:30 pm went by, and then 10:45 rolled around and still no word on where everyone had gone! But there sat, 150 hungry, tired, grumpy, starving Christmas Eve hotel guests, who by now were bordering on insane, left wondering what the actual St. Nick was happening! Then it happened!

Not our waitress, but the waitress assigned to the table next to us, came out with one plate of lamb chops, for the gentleman who sat at the head of the table directly to our left! Trust me, the entire restaurant went silent, and every single eye in the place turned to that man, who looked like a small mouse, surrounded by cats. Big, mean, hissing cats. He didn't even attempt to touch his knife and fork! He just sat there, staring down at his lamb chops, and then around the room. Well, suddenly someone across the restaurant began to wail with laughter, and then most everybody else did too!

I don't know about the rest of the diners that night, but Alan and I hadn't eaten since 11 am, and we were both quite punchy, so we just laughed so deep and so hard, that we were dizzy.  Now take what happened, and add tired to the fact that the wait staff had been most kind about keeping our glasses filled with whatever beverage had been originally ordered, and it was a recipe for getting drunk on Christmas Eve! Alan and I weren't drinking anything but sodas, but the rest of the restaurant seemed pretty well zonked.

 It was all so surreal, like a weird, surprise Christmas party, sprung on us by fate, at a Christmas dinner, gone way wrong! Well, we never did get our meal that night, but we did have a good time laughing about the overall predicament. Nothing was open so we ended up heading for a 7/11 not far away, and we ate chips and candy bars, at midnight, and just enjoyed the hell out of the restaurant Christmas party we had just attended! The next morning, Alan and I opened our presents and then enjoyed a nice breakfast at an iHop down the road, opting to not press our luck at the hotel restaurant!

We both love that memory, very much! And while were had been starving the night before, and slept with rumbling tummies, it turned out to be, the one Christmas party that was worth going to! We had such a good time! I wouldn't want to relive it, but heavens knows, it was our kind of Christmas magic, and it's tough to know that a silly thing like that may never come along again. Christmas is okay as holiday's go, and it brings a different magic to everyone's life, I was just happy to go through it with Alan, and have that memory in our marriage!

Here's a piece of advice... don't go looking for Christmas magic, but don't close yourself off to it either! Just let it come to you. It will find you, no matter where you are, and keep in mind, it may not be some big grand experience that hits you over the head, it might just be being able to laugh, in a moment where laughter is desperately needed! Be willing to let the magic find you, and when it comes, hold onto the feeling, and let the memory be like a treasured ornament you hang on your Christmas tree!

#73 Leaf of The Day

December 3rd 2018

Photographed October 25th 2018

Ione, California

Samsung

~Mood: Nostalgic

~Me

Dancing In The Wind

"Autumn colors remind us, we are all dancing in the wind."

~Lorin Morgan-Richards 

As we are in the last month of the year, and I may not be able to do as much photography outdoors as I would like, I thought I would visit this year's archived photos, to have a second look at all the amazing things I photographed, but never got the chance to post. I love photographing birds, and this little guy was just too beautiful to let fly off and never seen again. Look at him! There are a ton of these birds, or ones similar to him, but the autumn sun was shining down on him, in such a way that it nearly took my breath away.

Why hadn't I never noticed how absolutely stunning these tiny birds are?

He is a Rusty Blackbird, and I spotted him near the rock wall, at Lover's Park, in Pacific Grove. We were there in October, and the air, even near Monterey Bay, was still warm, and the October sun was just beginning to turn that amazing shade of gold, that we only get to see in autumn! I was so happy that day, because the Monterey peninsula has always felt so much like a second home to me. All that natural beauty, right along my beautiful Pacific. It's second only to my gorgeous, vibrant San Francisco!

San Francisco. Oh my. I haven't spent nearly enough time there this year! We spent a little time there, while we were on vacation, but I need to see it again, before we cross over into the new year! The holidays in San Francisco always meant so much to Alan and I, because there is so much to do and see. The move to Stockton, inn 2015, changed some things for us, and one of them is being able to hop across the bay any time we want! San Francisco simply isn't as easy to visit as it once was, but it's not going anywhere. That's a comforting thought, it is waiting for me, well, for us, just over the hills!

Anyway, back to this lovely bird! He is identified as a Rusty Blackbird (Breeding Male) and unfortunately, while he had seen like a fairly common black bird at first glance, they are actually one of the most rapidly declining species of birds. They have declined between 85-90 percent over the last 40 years, according to Cornell Lab Of Ornithology. That fact truly saddens me... deeply. How many more species of birds, and wildlife in general, do we have to lose, before something is done to correct the damage already done to the planet? I am glad I took the time that day to photograph this lovely bird, and to look up the information about him! Who knows if I will even be able to find one, should I make it back to Monterey Bay next year? I am sorry for all the time I took his species for granted.

Take my advice... stop and look at as much natural beauty around you as you can. Birds. The leaves. Flakes of snow. Lady bugs. Spiders. If it's a part of the natural world, really look at it. Maybe photograph it, but certainly take time to enjoy it, because you never know if you will ever get a chance to see it again! The earth is changing, and not for the better. Sometimes, it feels like earth is in the winter of it's life, but God I hope I'm wrong!

Rusty Blackbird

Cornell Lab Of Ornithology

 #72 Leaf Of The Day

December 2nd 2018

Photographed September 29th 2018

Ione, California

Samsung

~Mood: Quiet

~Me