A Life Lived In Autumn

 

"She embodied all the melancholy of autumn. She has learned to cherish with mournful tenderness of a past she dares not remember."

Renee Vivien

A Woman Appeared To Me

A few days ago, I stepped onto the porch, to fetch the mail, when I noticed this beautiful moth resting on the support beam that is closest to the mailbox. It was so tiny, less than the size of a dime, that I am surprised that I actually saw it. But there it was, the little spot of absolute beauty. Of all the moths and butterflies I have photographed, this one, the Wavy-lined Emerald moth, is certainly one of the most unique, and photogenic. The shade of green is breathtaking, and the white lines and the fringe remind me of a dress from the Art Deco era. The little winged friend stayed for a couple days, but by yesterday it was gone. Its made me a little sad, because I enjoyed meeting it, and learning about what its about, but I suppose it was ready to off and enjoy autumn. The life span of butterflies and moths is so short, but that amazing creature was lucky enough to live it's whole life in autumn. I think I am, perhaps, a bit jealous, but also happy that I met a little bit of autumn magic this week.

 

 

~Carly

October 10th 2020

Stockton, California

#18 Autumn Leaf Of The Day

"Just as a painter needs light in order to put the finishing touches to his picture, so I need an inner light, which I feel I never have enough of in the autumn."

~Leo Tolstoy 

I'm tired. History will document why. But you already know from what I said just then. I am tired. And it feels like I will never not be tired again. Like it's too later to every find my energy, or regain peace of mind. I want to pain to stop, and I am hoping our vacation will help. I still have that hope. Autumn. Vacation. And hope.

~Carly

Stockton, California

October 9th 2020

 

The Pence/Harris Debate October 7th 2020

 

"Skill at debate is not the same as maturity."

~ Ted Chiang

Exhalation:Stories

 Well, right off I can say last night's Pence/Harris debate wasn't the shitshow that the first Trump/Biden debate was, but then no one was expecting it to be. What it was, however, was an actual, mostly by the book, debate! Strange, I know, because the political dialog in America has gone so far off the rails in recent years, that it's almost unrecognizable. So how is it possible that those two managed to hold a fairly reasonable debate? I don't really know! I have heard reality tv described as human cockfighting, and if that's true, it's pretty fair to say our "reality tv president" made sure American politics was too. But Pence, while pretty much as big a liar as Trump, does seem to balance the ticket out by being Trump's clean-up man, so he is a bit more crafty with his lying style. And what a good job he does at that. Condescending. Smug. Trumpian ass kisser extraordinaire. All virtues that turns "Mother" (Karen Pence) on, I'm sure, but at the end of the day, I am pretty confident that while, Pence did his very best, most folks watching know exactly what was what. Kamala Harris won the debate, easily, by not lying, and making their platform clear.

The Moderator, Susan Page, Washington Bureau Chief for, USA Today, lost her patience more than once with V.P. Pence who was, lking over Harris, using more time then was allotted to him, and cutting Harris before she was finished answering questions, she also at times allowed both to engage in that behavior, at times, but to be honest, that behavior has pretty much occurred in most political debates I have viewed in my life. She wasn't the complete pushover Fox New's Chris Wallace was, but she actually didn't do a really good job of moderating either. There are two more scheduled debates between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and I would like to see the moderator... I don't know... moderate. History will write this chapter too. It's not even a done deal that the next debate will take place, in that Donald Trump was diagnosed with Covid-19, just last weekend. 

So there's that.

 Joe Biden is refusing to attend the next debate, if Trump is still testing positive, and rightly so. Trump has been conducting himself like a miracle has already happened, and he has beaten the disease, despite unhinged tweeting and weird videos to prove there is nothing wrong. Trump is currently at 20,000 lies for his presidency, so believing he is well, is pretty difficult at best. Politicians lie, as do tv reality stars, but he is truly special in his star power as a liar. He has never seemed particularly stable, but since being prescribed the steroids to fight the Covid-19 infec thetion, he seems more unstable than usual, which is saying something. As we move closer to the election I am afraid his mental health will only continue to deteriorate. But his lashing out at all of us, at some point, has been my fear since he took office in January of 2017. But like everything else, it's out of all of our control. And that's a horrible feeling.

So, I guess my take away from the debate is this. I have even more respect for Senator Kamala Harris then I did before. I am very sure of my choice of she and Joe Biden to lead our county, but, in truth, I would have voted for a whoever made it to the top of the ticket. Elizabeth Warren was my first choice. I voted for her in the primary. She didn't win the nomination. Joe Biden did and I am more than okay with that. I know he is ready to lead. I know he won't get us killed. I know he wouldn't have chosen Kamala Harris, if he wasn't sure she was ready to lead as vice president, she is ready, should he ever need to hand powers over to her because he cannot serve. We (America) have maturity, stabiliy, and intelligence ready to lead us out of the darkest time I remember as an American. I wish I could list all the times and reasons why Ive gone to bed, in the last four years, crying or scared to death, despondent, depressed, or suffering from a stress induced headache, because I was afraid to look away.

I don't expect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to solve my problems, they can't, and anyone who believes it's their job too, has NO idea what politics is, or how it works. I don't expect things to change overnight and suddenly there will only be only sunny days, and autumn for the next 12 months. Nothing is perfect, and there is a lot of cleaning up to do, after all the damage of the last four years. I don't even expect to not be wearing a mask a year from now. The Covid-19 pandemic is now going to be around a while, but I do expect to experience a lot less political stress overall. In fact, while my support for Biden and Harris will remain steadfast after they take office, I plan to back away from obsessing on politics. I was always into politics, it was a subject dad and I could talk about it at length, but it's now just one more thing Donald Trump managed to ruin for me. And the ironic thing... he has no idea what it is, or how it is done. He just treats everyone, and every issue, the way he has is whole life, like it only matters if it profits him. 

Forgive the picture I chose, of Mike Pence, for this post. It was such a strange moment when that fly landed on his head during the debate. It's the off beat moments in life that I sometimes remember the clearest. That's admittedly, my immaturity at work. It's just the type of thing that Alan and I, and some on Twitter, would have put on their, Apocalyptic Bingo cards. Unfortunately, I didn't see that coming! Why would a fly be in the debate hall, when the powers that be, were going to such lengths to make sure it was safe and sanitary? They put up not one, but two sheets of plexiglass between Pence and Harris! So how and why was there a fly? And it landed on Pence? It was just one more joke on all of us, by 2020. And to think, it's not done with us yet!

 

Pence Pic is by the funniest Tom Cruise impersonator around. Visit "Not Tom Cruise" on Twitter! @Not_TomCruise

~Carly

October 8th 2020

Stockton, California

Halloween Facts And Trivia

 "Did you know that at one time trick-or-treating was stopped? It's true. During World War II children were not allowed to trick-or-treat because there was a sugar shortage."

~Linda Bozzo

Kooky Halloween Jokes To Tickle Your Funny Bone

Just to be fun I thought I might try something different and do a post about trivia surrounding Halloween. See if you knew these facts.

1. Halloween goes back more than 2,000 years.

It was originally the pre-Christian Celtic festival called Samhain, which means 'summer's end."

2. Americans spend about 86.27 on Halloween every year.

3.  Illinois produces up to five time more pumpkins than any other state.

4. Fear of Halloween is called, "Samhainophobia".

5. Tootsie Rolls were the first wrapped penny candy.

6. The movie, Halloween, was made in only 21 days.

7. The first Jack O' Lanterns were actually made from turnips.

8. "Souling" is a medieval Christian precursor to modern day trick-or-treating. On Hallowmas (Nov 1st) the poor would go door to door offering prayers for the dead in exchange for soul cakes. 

9. Harry Houdini died October 31st 1926.

10. A child born on Halloween is said to have the ability to take to spirits.

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #16

~Carly

October 7th 2020

Stockton, California

 

To All The Skeletons I Have Loved Before

"First of all, it was October, a rare month for boys. Not that all months aren't rare. But one strange year, Halloween came early... don't you ditch me, Jim Nightshade... don't talk of death. Someone might hear... ." 

~Ray Bradbury

Something Wicked This Way Comes

And A Sound Of Thunder

They may not be exercising social distancing, but they do have masks on... at least some of them do. Anyway, they made me smile because it looks like Halloween is pretty much cancelled this year, especially in Berkeley, where I took this photo, and I don't want to miss everything about my favorite holiday. Alameda County was hit really hard by Covid-19, so it doesn't make it practical or healthy to celebrate.

I will miss opening the door to little monsters, and decorating, but it got me thinking about some awesome Halloween decorations I have photographed over the years, and so beginning this week, I want to feature a different symbol of spooky Halloween macabre I seen here and there, and concluding the night before Halloween!

 

First Up... Skeletons!

North Beach, San Francisco, California

 

 

 

 

Carson City, Nevada

Auburn, California

 Stockton, California

 

San Francisco, California

 

 Camino California, Apple Hill, Rainbow Orchards

 Today's Autumn Leaf Of The Day #15

Carly

October 6th 2020

Stockton, California

 

The Pretty Red Hen Of Knight's Ferry

"The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons into winter wools."

~Henry Beston 

My thoughts are scattered. Scattered like a million leaves at the base of a tree in autumn. I'm in October. My favorite beautiful, luscious, tasty month of autumn, and I am feeling uninspired. Some of it is stress. The ballots are being sent out to voters today. I want it to arrive tomorrow, but I know that probably isn't going to happen. It will be at least Wednesday before I see it, which in any other year, would be just fine, but this year it feels like forever.

 Trump pulled one hell of a stunt yesterday, with that little joyride he took around Walter Reed hospital, just so he could hear applause from his cultists. Again, history won't fail to document it, but it's so hard to take. It was dangerous for the agents who had to accompany him. It's embarrassing. It's frightening. It's unnecessary. And who is going to tell him NO? That's the frustrating part.

 Political analysts, pundits, and even folks like myself will complain, but ultimately there is very little going to happen over it. Was he sick or not? How could he have Covid-19 and find the will and energy to do something so incredibly stupid? I guess I will have to leave that up to history too. Vacation begins in four days, will history be able to answer that question by then, who knows? All I know is, nothing at all. But isn't that a pretty little hen? I took that photo in 2017, and never posted it. Whats up with that? The photos of the leaves are also from my archives. I guess some autumns just make more sense than others.

 

Today's Autumn Leaf Of The Day

~Carly

October 5th 2020

Stockton, California

 

A Month Of Sundays Or 30 Days

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."

~Albert Camus

 Well, the election is under a month from now. Or exactly 30 days, depending on how you choose to measure it. November 3rd in any case. A month of Sundays. Three weeks into our vacation. A date on the calendar. It feels like time is standing still, and yet here we are on our 13th leaf for this autumn. We got here so quickly. It feels like the next 30 days will be the scariest of my life. History will save it for beach reading one day, if there is a one day. Lord I am tired, and maybe a little tender, but getting lost in the leaves makes me so happy and takes my mind off all the scary stuff. Just think... that pretty little leaf is one of a kind, I will never see another one exactly like it. That has always felt downright magical to me. No autumn day should ever be wasted indoors, lost in despair.

 

~Carly

October 4th 2020

Stockton, California