Life Under The Canopy Of Autumn

"The Might of life 

honors the waning sun of autumn

be-decking the landscape 

in a fancy blaze of tangerine."

 

~Tara Estacaan

 

It's basically the last week of autumn and some trees have shed their last leaf, while others are hanging on with overfilled branches of beautiful leaves. So, as sad as I am, I know the post-season of leaves will continue to keep me smiling for at least another month, maybe two! They will get me through until the inauguration of Joe Biden on January 20th. Sigh. It's only a little over a month away, 39 days to be exact, but it feels like forever. If only Trump would stop, and autumn play in my mind forever. 

 

Let There Be Light...

~Carly

Stockton, California

December 12th 2020

 

 

Wendy And The Leaves

 

"It was one of those red-gold early October days, the air was crisp and tart, as a heady as applejack and even at dawn the sky was the clear, purplish blue that only the finest of autumn days brings."

 

Joanne Harris

Five Quarters Of The Orange

 

This is Wendy. She is the last of the teddy bear models for 2020. It has been a challenging year for coming up with something different to photograph, and autumn was a challenge, within a challenge. Long drives this year were difficult, because things from county to county were being handled different. Some have restaurants open. Some are observing all the rules, others aren't. But some of the ones who are taking it seriously, have decided on a system of fines for those not wearing masks or being outdoors, engaging in non-essential activities, when told not to. Most don't, but a few can make it bad for everyone.The parks were open, but now you need a reservation to visit Yosemite. It's a headache to do whats right, so I got out the Boyd's Bears collection and tried to do something new. I think it went okay.

 

 I will probably revisit it next year, because I think I can do a lot more with it. I had the idea to maybe feature a honey bear next time, and hopefully get a photo of just the bear's head, with the sun illuminating the crystallized sugar. We will see. The bear with the just the leaves is pretty nice too. The leaves this autumn were lovely, even with all the challenges of the red cast on everything from the wildfires. No need to fret over it, it was a part of this year. It was part of 2020's history, but it feels like we have all been living inside a Stephen King story, and who knows, maybe we have. I am tired. I am sad. I am scared. But I know that autumn will be waiting for me and on, September 22nd 2021, at 3:20 PM EST, I will be there, planning new autumn roads to travel.

~Carly

Stockton California

December 11th 2020

The Great Blue Heron

 

 "Autumn is grey rainy afternoons, and fond memories of raking up leaves into tidy neat piles,

 just to jump in a spread them around again." 

 

~Jason Soroski

 

The Great Blue Heron is one of the most beautiful birds I have ever seen, and being able to photograph it, is nothing but a joyful experience. So, you might be able to imagine how happy I was last Sunday, when I came across this one. It was just doing some hunting, in the front yard of a house about a half mile from the Woodbridge Ecological Preserve, in Lodi California. Just minding it's own business, waiting for it's lunch. I never get tired of watching them, their behavior is deliberate, and their voice somewhat imposing. Don't be fooled by it's size, it only weighs 5-6 pounds!They move slowly, unless they spot food, and if they do, they spring forward with grace and speed and rarely miss their prey. I photographed my first one in Golden Gate Park, in San Francisco, several years ago, but this is only the second one I have seen in San Joaquin Valley, since we moved here. It was a nice bit of luck to see one, I only wish there hadn't been a fence between me and him, because I would have liked to have done a better photo of him. He took my breath away! Hopefully next time we meet, I will be able to photograph him in mid-flight. Beautiful.

 

 

 

 

~Carly

Stockton, California

December 10th 2020

Coco St. Pierre Vanderbilt

"Autumn is a season of desperate hopes. The leaves are souls begging to turn life on pause. Begging to stop, begging to take a break, hiding under smiles and childish words."

 

~Teodora Savu

Listen To The Leaves

 

So, this is what I woke up to today. It was really loud, really obnoxious and it was really scary, until I realized what it was, but thank GOD it wasn't an emergency message warning of incoming ICBM's, which I have been expecting since Donald Trump took office! I suppose it was a bad enough message, in that, as I mentioned earlier this week, San Joaquin County is now in an official lock-down, through Christmas. And if I don't miss my guess here, it will be until at least the first week in January.

 

 Once I was focused, and a little less annoyed, I couldn't help but think of American Horror Story, and how the season of Apocalypse began with one of my favorite characters, Coco St. Pierre Vanderbilt, receiving a text similar to mine, which served as a warning of ICBMs incoming, and informing that most world capitols were already gone, destroyed in a tit for tat nuclear annihilation of the occupants of earth. I could identify with Coco, when her dad called to say it was all true, all she wanted in that moment was to be with her family and boyfriend. I guess we all would. My biggest fear is that I won't be able to say goodbye to Alan. That I will not be able to hear his voice one last time. Also scary... I survive the initial blast, but I am just close enough to the action that I drown in radiation and become a walking puss ball. No thanks, I'd rather go quickly. 

 

Hopefully, I will never have to face that, and I know I am going to feel better about things after January 20th, when Joe Biden takes office. But until then I have to make yard photography work, which is fine, because there is still a lot I am in the emotional weeds over, so I might as well learn to love my predicament. Honestly, if Ryan Murphy doesn't create a season of American Horror Story, devoted to the events of 2020, then he's not the master storyteller I know him to be! By the way, if you haven't seen American Horror Story: Apcalypse, go, scoot... watch it. The end of the world has never been more fun! Mutt and Jeff are priceless!

 ~Carly

Stockton, California

December 9th 2020

 

 

Swainson's Thrush (Russet-Backed) And Ginko

 

 

"Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with hum how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;

To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells."

 

~John Keats

Complete Poems And Selected Letters

 

I have to keep reminding myself that we are in December! Honestly, it feels much more like November, than any December I can remember. Most days have been in the mid-60's and overnight hours about the low to mid-50's. As a consequence of that, there is some fire danger here in California. I spoke a little about how the fire season has been extended in recent years, by several months, but I was hoping at the time it would be declared over, long before now. Sadly, it looks like it will, in fact, remain in the red zone until the end of this month. There is a small chance of rain, but I don't think it will be enough to change the forecast as far as fire season goes.

 

It's very sad. I am praying for rain after the first of the year, to get a possible running start on the fire season of 2021, which will begin in March. Who knows what the temperatures will be by then. It kinda feels like California may not see another normal seasonal year. According to the Los Angeles Times, August, September and October, of 2020, were the hottest on record. That was easy to believe, judging by the lack of moisture in most of the leaves I collected, regardless of species. It's apparent, Climate Change will only continue to progress, and I can see the possibility that California could become unliveable within my lifetime. It's heartbreaking. Hopefully, the incoming Biden administration will be able to finally put some science, and of course, federal funds, into fighting the effects of Climate Change in not just California, but the other western states facing as much tragedy as we have.  

Autumn comes to an end in just a couple weeks, and it has me thinking about what it will be like next year. The ecosystem is changing so much, I wonder how things have already changed when it comes to the migratory path of the beautiful birds I am just beginning to get to know. What about the creepy crawlies? 5 or 10 years from now, will we be overrun with different bugs we haven't had in California, or at least not in this part of California? I'd rather not have that, particular if the birds begin a different migratory pattern. I am trying to not put too much thought into the possibilities and the what-ifs, but I am continuing to do my part. In fact, Alan suggested the other day, that we start taking a garbage bag with us, when we go to the wetland's to bird watch, because there always seems to be some amount of discarded items, ranging from aluminum cans, to masks, and we need to do more than our part if folks are going to be that damn careless, selfish and ignorant. 

Ginko 

 

 

 ~Carly

December 8th 2020

Stockton, California

 

Spiced Apple Cider Days

 

"Autumn side to our favorite, drinking spiced apple cider between caramel kisses. Flannels and new love flickering in candlelight. So, I hoped for a change in us in the fading summer. That we might remember the smells of the cider and the sweet sticky kisses. That warmth of our love, so vibrant and new. But as the seasons changed, I saw a change in us. And, I watched our love wither as the last leaves fell."

~Liz Newman

 

This is the first autumn, in a long time, that I didn't spend at least a little time in the Sierra, even if it was just a quick jaunt up to South Lake Tahoe. I missed seeing all the autumn colors in Tahoe and Nevada City, but I missed Carson City, Nevada most of all, but my energy just wasn't having any part of it. But it wasn't just about me, Alan needed some rest too, so we had fun close to home. It was all good, because this was an absolutely lovely season, and I have found a lot of new horizons to photograph, even in the last week or so. The Central Valley actually has a lot to offer in the way of autumn scenery, you just have to know where to find it. Next year I will be able to do a lot more autumn themed photography, a lot closer to home. That feels good. There is a lot of positive things to look forward to in 2021, and I have never been so happy to see a year turn in my whole life. If autumn has to end in a couple weeks, can it take 2020 with it? Please?

 

 

I just realized that his post is about all the beauty I have found in the Central Valley, and the pictures I chose to showcase are from Cull Canyon Park, in the East Bay! LOL. I have a lot of beauty to share this week, so you will get to see what I have been talking about. For now, I hope you enjoy these photos. I had a great time visiting my favorite park, Cull Canyon, this last Saturday! and there was a lot to appreciate and photograph in the natural world on that warm, late autumn day, in December.The season is growing old, and soon it will say goodnight, but there will be a lot of memories of how gentle this autumn was, at least it was to me. It was days of spiced apple cider.

~Carly

Stockton, California

December 7th 2020

As Sudden As Winter

 

"Grief is always sudden as winter, 

no matter how long the autumn."

 

J. Aleksandr Wooton

Forgetting: Impressions From The Millennial Borderland

 

Autumn is slipping away. I have more feelings, or I should say, more complex feelings, about autumn 2020 than any other autumn I can remember, including the autumn Alan and I spent apart. But don't get me wrong, it's not all bad, it's just been a very strange year, that has left me over-feeling everything. It will straighten itself out. And I am happy. I am okay. Life is good. And hey, here comes winter. New things to photograph. New doors open, and soon, in just 10 months, autumn will be back, and who knows what adventures will happen between now and then! Plus, my dear Twitter pal, Joe, has agreed to continue our weekend autumn image sharing. It is great to have a friend who enjoys autumn as much as I do, and it really did help to make 2020 a lot easier to deal with! A LOT EASIER!

 

~Carly

December 6th 2020

Stockton, California