October Leaves

 

"The fallen leaves in the forest seemed to make

 even the ground glow and burn with light."

 

~Malcolm Lowry

October Ferry To Gabriola

 

It looks like a perfect October pumpkin, doesn't it? I love this leaf, but the tree that it was on wasn't doing well the last time I checked in on it. Another victim of California's relentless drought. It is one of my favorite trees, and is in the quaint town of Ione, California. It's from the Judas tree, one of only 4 trees in that town I visit each year. It is one of my, new old tree friends, replacing so many that I had to leave behind back in the Bay Area. Please wish it well, and please pray for some rain for us. October is the prettiest month of the autumn season, in my opinion, and I am hoping next October will be a great big harvest of beautiful leaves of all kinds!

 

 

 

~Carly

Stockton, California

December 19th 2020

 

 

 

Mid-Century Judgement Call

 

"By late autumn the yard would grow thick with fallen leaves causing the landlady to heave many deep sighs."

 

~Takashi Hiraide

The Guest Cat

 

I love seeing big piles of leaves. I know. I know, not if I had to rake them up. True, it would be some work, I'm not disputing that. And yes, I have some physical challenges now that would make that difficult, but it wouldn't be impossible, and I know my mood would be improved daily, just by having fully blooming autumn trees in the yard! I say it every year, but I really want to plant some trees this year. I really want that promise of beauty all my own. The only challenge to doing so, is availability of the trees. Open nurseries, and of course, money to do it all right! If there is a Santa Claus, he will slip a great big Lowe's gift card in my sock. Shrug. I can remember when I requested Boyd's Teddy Bears. LOL. I think that was about five years ago.

 

Anyway, about the sign. I have passed it many times on my way around Stockton, and it always makes my head tilt, because it reminds me of the lines in lettering from mid-century signs I have been collecting, and it has the colors, although they photographed a bit different here, but it gives me pause because it's not really perfect. Like maybe it's more of a, in the style of, as opposed to genuine mid-century signage. Shrug. I don't know. I have no real way of knowing when that particular shopping center was established. I assume it was at about the same time that my home was built, which was in 1962, the same year as my birth. In fact, my house has only had three owners, including us, and it was sold to the first owner, on my birthday in 1962! That's how I know there are not nearly enough trees in the yard, this place was meant to be mine one day. I'm going with the sign, but I will still continue to search for information, because sometimes you accidentally come across other amazing facts about stuff, so it's all good!

 

 

 

~Carly

Stockton, California

December 18th 2020

 

Her Happiest Season

 "Autumn was her happiest season. There was an expectancy about it's sounds and shapes: the distant thunk pomp of leather and young bodies on the practice field near her house made her think of bands and cold Coca-Cola, parched peanuts and the sight of people's breath in the air. There was even something to look forward to when school started... renewals of old feuds and friendships, weeks of learning again what one half forgot in the long summer. Fall was hot... supper time with everything to eat one missed in the morning when too sleepy to enjoy it."

~Harper Lee

Go Set A Watchman

Look at that sunset. I took that photo, as the sun was setting over the Altamont Pass, at the end of a very good day. It was December 5th, a beautiful day, that had all of the gifts autumn could possibly provide. We were on our way home from the Bay Area, after a long day out, and I was tired from the day, which is a good thing, but I just had to have that sunset. Spending a day with the camera makes me happy, but spending the day with the camera, and returning home tired from it, makes me ecstatic! It means I saw beauty, and even if I only manage to refill my file only a bit, I am usually happy, because it means I took my time and really put thought into my surroundings. 

 

You would think that would be a given... right? Well, yes and no. Sometimes I just can't break through my own relentless head noise. And sometimes the ambient light looks one way in the car, and another way at curbside or even deep on the rice patties, depending on if I am photographing some curbside art, autumn leaves, or Sandhill Cranes. Photography is never the same twice. You can prep in a general sense, but I can't count the number of times I have packed all my requirement. Light meters. Tripods. Cameras. Headed for a location, only to find that I had to fight some unforeseen circumstance, be it natural or man-made. Self made catastrophes happen too, like forgetting my small wallet that contains extra SD cards. That's happened an embarrassing amount of times. That's the difference between an amateur and pro, I guess. But, even with all of the work, mental and physical, it's worth it, no matter what season we are in!

Every year I photograph somewhere between 100 and 500 autumn leaves. About 91 become, Leaves Of The Day, and the remaining are used in other projects, while some are never featured anywhere. Last year was a really difficult year for my project. I couldn't find much color during autumn, in fact most of it took place during winter of this year. It was such a difficult year I wasn't sure we would get through it, but we did, and I was glad I had saved some leaves back in case. This year was a much different story, and I have decided that beginning this year, I will share as many of the unused leaves as possible, because like the featured ones, they are what the life of the year was about. California lost so many trees in 2020, to wildfires, or drought conditions. Climate Change is affecting and diminishing the  color and life of California. It's painful to watch. I don't know what the state will look like in 10 years. It may look more like autumn in upstate New York, which would be amazing, or it could be treeless, I don't know, but one thing is for sure, the state is going through big changes, so the history of autumn 2020 means a lot to me. It is my happiest season.

The Leaves Of Autumn 2020

And Today's Featured Leaf Of The Day

#87

~Carly

Stockton, California

December 17th 2020

 

Pack Up All My Cares And Woes...

"We never know which lives we influence, or when, or why.

 Not until the future eats the present, anyway.

 We know when it's too late."

 

~Stephen King

 11/22/63

 

... Blackbird Bye-Bye

 

 I was in the East Bay last week on business, so I decided to stop in Castro Valley to do some photographs at Cull Canyon Park, and grab a quick bite at the College Avenue Burrito Shop. About half way down Castro Valley Boulevard, I saw this cool lady on a corner, waiting to cross the street. She was a lady of style and sense, who made me smile. I have no idea who she was, or what she found so interesting on her phone, for all I know she was taking my photo, but to see someone like her taking Covid-19 this seriously, with such style, humor and flair, made me feel better for a little while. I have rarely seen folks without their masks in the East Bay, but no fully masked human could beat the impact of this woman's statement of just how easy, and fun, masking up could be. Hey, it looks like Captain Trumps might be around for a while, one doctor recently said we will probably be wearing masks a year from now, so perhaps I need to think outside the deadly virus accessory box. Although, nothing says "out of the box" quiet like wearing a baby bonnet on your face, while shopping at Walmart! Shrug. I'd do it again! LOL!

 

~Carly

Stockton, California

December 16th 2020

The Wind Takes Everything

 

"In the end, the wind takes everything, doesn't it? And why not? Why other? If the sweetness of our lives did not depart, there would be no sweetness at all."

 

~Stephen King

The Wind Through The Keyhole

 

So much good happened yesterday. An uneventful Electoral College count, with the exception of a rude man attempting to intimidate Stephen King regarding the win of Joe Biden. The rollout of the first Covid-19 vaccine injections and the supply shipment, and at the end of the day, the resignation of Attorney General Bill Barr. Democracy won, and it is the beginning of the end of the monster that has haunted us for the better part of a year. A monster so terrifying, it makes Donald Trump seem like an old and dear friend that you would, and could, trust your last dime to. The monster of Covid-19. As good as yesterday was, along with the sweet came the bitter... we crossed over 300,000 dead in America. Much of it driven by lies, misinformation, and folks unable to give up the urge to gather, despite the Grim Reaper walking past us.

 

According to the Los Angeles Times, the county I live in, San Joaquin, continues to suffer under some of the worst statistics in this state, if not the country, as we have reached zero ICU beds available as of this past weekend, and perhaps as low as minus 30% ICU bed availability by this coming weekend, which is the weekend before Christmas. Sad times. I feel it when I hear about it, or do any research into it, but it's cold outside now, the wind is blowing cold ominous winds across the farm country, and storms are building, which makes it all worse. It's natural for days to grow dark, it's expected this time of year, but this is different, and I don't even have the laughter of leaves to console me. They have fallen, and they, for perhaps the first time since I began my autumn leaf project, are  reminding me of the seasons of my life, and what it means to die. Will I see another autumn on this earth? Or am I an autumn leaf of 2020? Am I the last leaf of the year, unaware that the next cold breath of the wind, will serve as my natural enemy when death comes claiming?

 

 

~Carly

Stockton, California

December 15th 2020

Seasons And Transitions

 "Speaking of happiness, those distinctive moments are found outdoors... in the autumn and winter and always in the mountains where people are few, wildlife is abundant and there is peace in the quiet."

~Donna Lynn Hope

Autumn is not giving up it's gold and russet without a fight, but I have a feeling, winter isn't going to give autumn one bit of extra time as far as the temperatures go! We have had some really warm and dry winters, but we have already gotten a sizable amount of snow this year in the Sierra. 18 inches in the last couple days at Donner Summit alone! It's okay. I enjoy it when the seasons duke it out during the transition, and no two seasons do it as beautifully as Autumn and Winter. I am a happy girl!

~Carly

Stockton, California

December 14th 2020

This Autumn's Last Gift

 

"I stood in a clearing among a stand of beech trees, leaves as red as rubies, branches black as jet. It was sunset, and shafts of richly colored sunlight struck through the delicate pillars of the tree trunks, as if though the lancet windows of a cathedral."

 

~Kate Forsyth

Bitter Greens

 

In my sadness, I thought that I would probably never see a sunset again, as beautiful as a sunset from way atop Grizzly Peak in Berkeley, or from an unobstructed view of my beautiful Pacific, from Ocean Beach, in San Francisco, but last night the sky burned with every bit as colorful beauty as I have ever seen in those other two places. And it doesn't hurt my heart to say... I am home now. I have found a new creative love in enjoying the birds at the protected areas along the San Joaquin Delta, and my camera has found purpose. And I even have my beloved Mount Diablo to remind me, San Francisco, and all the places that live in heart, aren't so far away, and are just right on the other side of the mountain waiting for me. If I can see Mount Diablo... I am okay. I am Okay. Better yet... I am in love. Autumn 2020 had one last gift for me. My heart is healed.

 

Woodbridge Ecological Reserve

Lodi, California

December 12th, 2020

~Carly

December 12th 2020

Stockton, California