Autumn Leaf Of The Day #20

#20 Leaf of The Day

October 12th 2019

Berkeley, California

Nikon

"The birds will wing from the weather,

While I stand, still as the harvest,

With the sound of the fall in the air." 

Carolyn Kizer

~Mood: Tired

~Me    :)

Walking In Tilden

"There's something about Fall that makes me feel alive... that life somehow starts on that Indian summer, when leaves dance to kiss the ground, filling the earth with stars and the rustling leaves beckons me to wander and get lost in it's beauty."

~Mystqx

Walking around Tilden Park, in Berkeley, is downright dreamy in autumn. The leaves are beginning to change. There are, wild turkeys and deer, all over the place, and the breeze from the bay makes me smile, because it's cool and ticklish on my skin. I love Berkeley, but if I could only have one little piece of it, for all of eternity, Tilden Park would be in my little corner of Heaven. 

 Autumn Leaf Of The Day

#19 Leaf Of The Day

October 11th 2019

Berkeley, California

Nikon

~Mood: Happy
~Me   :)

Photo By Request: Looking Up

"Autumn. It's crispness, it's anticipation, its melancholia, it's cool breezes replacing summer's heat. It's long days in the field, a harvest festival when works is done, a cheering crowd in a football stadium, chrysanthemums punctuation a somber landscape. It's Halloween high-jinx, pumpkins, grinning toothy smiles, the crack of pecan pressed against pecan. It's the first curls of smoke, fresh blisters from pushing a rake. It's crisp and fresh and mellow and snug, solemn and melancholy. And it's very, very welcome."

Good Housekeeping Magazine

I've been a little down lately, big surprise, right? It's been a touch few weeks leading up to this vacation, but it's time to do some "Looking Up" just in time for this week's edition of #PhotoByRequest subject, "Looking Up." Coincidentally, Karen chose this as our topic, and I am thankful for that, because it gave me a reason to try to pull myself out of the depression I am feeling. I knew starting a new project with my old Pal would be a good idea, and here I am, mood already lifted. I took the photo above, on Tuesday, while I was in Berkeley.

 It is a grove eucalyptus trees, that are just behind the Carousel, in Tilden Park. It's one of my favorite places in the park, a place I used to visit often when we still lived there. I miss it. I remember my friend Kat once telling me that when she moved from Berkeley, to the east coast, she found herself missing the smell of eucalyptus. I laughed a bit, because I never thought I would miss it, but guess what? I do. Very much. Funny how we can be so sure about what we will or will not miss, then one day, we are put in the position to fin out just how right... or wrong... we can be! It's all good though, I had a nice visit. It's becoming easier to drop into the Bay Area, without feeling absolutely defeated when I have to leave. 

It's now more like simply visiting an old friend,

 and that's a nice feeling. Most of these photos you will recognize from previous posts going back to 2004!

Golden Gate Bridge (Fort Baker)

San Francisco Ferry Building

"The Ring" Haight Ashbury

Legs of Haight Ashbury 

Altamont Windmills (11/25/16)

#18 Leaf of The Day

October 10th, 2019 

Berkeley, California

Nikon

 ~Mood: Happy

~Me  :)

Joy And Pain On An Autumn Day

"You must remain. I must depart.

Two autumns falling in the heart."

~Busan

I felt that way yesterday, as I sat on Grizzly Peak Boulevard, in Berkeley, just staring down at my gorgeous love, San Francisco. I was thinking about how much it always hurts to say goodbye. I miss it so much. I miss it like I am leaving a part of my soul behind, every time I leave. When we moved in 2015, I still believed I could visit any time I wanted. We were only moving 90 miles away, after all, but I soon learned that 90 miles might just as well have been 9,000 miles away. Things will never be the same, and I have accepted that, but oh my, like with any broken heart, there are times during the break that hurt so bad, you wonder how it is that it doesn't actually kill you? But then you have days when you know, deep down, San Francisco misses you back, because that town knows how to mug for the camera! I wonder, do goodbyes hurt a little deeper in autumn?

#17 Leaf Of The Day

October 9th 2019

Berkeley, California

(Tilden Park Little Farm)

Nikon

~Mood: Okay

~Me

Inter-Galactic Space Blobs

"It was one of those days you sometimes get latish in the autumn when the sun beams, the birds toot, and there is a bracing tang in the air that sends the blood beetling briskly through the veins."

~PG Wodehouse

 Jeeves and the Old School Chum 

It's a beautiful year so far, and there is still a lot more to see and celebrate. Like this... how cool is this little leaf at the top? Or is it an alien? Could it be a distant cousin to the gray aliens? I suppose it could be a leaf in a Halloween costume, but I suppose it's also just my imagination. But personally, I'm going with it's an alien hiding in a beautiful autumn tree, after having been chased across the universe by Inter-galactic space blobs, or maybe just a really cool leaf! You never know with me!

 #16 Leaf Of The Day

October 8th, 2019 

Ione, California

Nikon

~Mood: Happy
~Me  :)

Autumn Life's Peak Color

"I am falling in love again with autumn

The smell of warm cider,

The orange color leaves,

Pumpkins everywhere

and the crisp breeze,

People walking or riding their bikes,

Folks jogging or going on hikes,

I love autumn for so man reasons,

I must admit...

This is my favorite season"

~Charmaine J. Forde 

Leaves are everywhere, so as you might imagine, color is peaking really early, in pockets all around California! It's the 7th of October, and I have to hurry up to the Sierra and Yosemite before it's all gone. This vacation is going to be all about me chasing my how shadow here and there to get the landscapes I need for my archives. Sigh. I was hoping to take a more leisurely pace, but it looks like I will just have to get my jogging shoes on and go. I wait all year for the colors of autumn to  guide me back into piece of mind, but some years are much more like riding a roller-coaster, than gently rolling on my beautiful golden bay. Okay... I'm up for it... bring it on!

#15 Leaf Of The Day

October 7th 2019

Ione, California

Nikon

~Mood: Happy

~Me  :)

Autumn Butterflies In The Trees And A Little Blue Jay

"An autumn forest is such a place

 that once entered you never look for an exit."

~Mehmet Murat ildan

Here is the first portrait of autumn leaves, still on the tree, just before they fall to the earth. These leaves nearly took my breath away! At first glance, from a few feet away, I thought they might have been tiny butterflies, but as I got closer I was happy to see they were simply a couple of the most beautiful leaves I had ever seen! I have never seen autumn leaves shaped this way! All the individual leaves, on this particular tree, were gorgeous, and had some very different shapes than I have seen in previous years it was definitely the perfect way begin this year's series with! And if this wasn't enough beauty, just a few feet away was a gorgeous Blue Jay. Yesterday was a very good day with the camera! 

 #14 Leaf of The Day

October 5th, 2019

Stockton, California

Nikon 

~Mood: Happy

~Me  :)