Gathering Leaves And Autumn Leaf Of The Day #10

 

Gathering Leaves

By Robert Frost

 

Spades take up leaves

no better than spoons,

 And bags full of leaves  

are as light as balloons.

 

They make a great noise

of rustling all day

like rabbit and deer

running away.

 

But the mountains I raise

elude my embrace

flowing over my arms

and into my face.

 

I may load and unload 

again and again

Till I fill the whole shed

and what then?

 

Next to nothing for weight

and since they grew duller

from contact with earth

next to nothing for color.

 

Next to nothing for use

but a crop is a crop

and who's to say where

the leaves shall stop. 

 

The leaves above are from a Judas tree, that exists for the time being, at a park and ride in the El Dorado County town of, Ione, California. You may remember me mentioning Ione, when I post about one of my favorite spooky places ever, Preston Castle. Anyway, it has been one of the best sources I have had for finding autumn color in a safe place, and by that, I mean as a place easy to get to, off the road, and not too far into the Sierra foothills. But the last couple years it has become more and more apparent that the town of Ione would rather watch these trees die, than give them a little water. I don't live there, so I feel funny about complaining, I don't know what their budget is, I just know my heart hurts for these beautiful trees. The drought has destroyed so much of the beauty of California, and I feel these trees are just one more casualty. Pray for rain in California, or do some positive visualization, or please, if you can, send some hope their way. I don't want to see their beauty lost forever. 

 

Also from the Judas tree...

 

~Me

Autumn Picnics And Todays Autumn Leaf Of The Day #9

 

Still

By Jaakko A. Ahokas

 

In the fall, I believe in poetry again

if nothing else it is

a movement of the mind.

Summers ball together

into sticky lumps,

evenings are glass beads from one mould

for standard-size youth

winter a smooth heaviness, not even cold.

But the mind trembles

here, on the brink 

the mind trembles

there is life, after all,

there is life, still

unbelief left. 

 

A mother, father, and two baby Clark's Grebes frolic in the warm afternoon sun, in early autumn. The father swims a short distance away, and returns a little bit later with the perfect meal for their picnic... a shiny silver colored fish. He hands it off to one of his children, and floats over to his wife to give her a kiss. They are a happy American family, enjoying life in their home, the waters of the Clifton Court Forebay, in Byron, California. There is just something deeply magical about the sunshine in autumn, that no other season enjoys.

 

 

 

Today's Autumn Leaf Of The Day...

~Me

 

 

Autumnal Rainbows And Autumn Leaf Of The Day #8

 

"Fall colors are funny. They're so bright and intense and beautiful. It's like nature is trying to fill you up with color, to saturate you so you can stockpile it before winter turns everything muted and dreary."

 

~Siobhan Vivian

Same Difference

 

White-faced Ibis are beautiful, full stop. As a juvenile they shine with iridescent dark green feathers. There are other colors mixed in, but as they fly overhead all you can see is either green or black feathers. These two Ibis are among the most lovely I've seen, and with the autumn sun shining through their feathers, illuminating a beautiful rainbow, I can't think of a more fascinating or photogenic bird. 

 

 

~Me

Draggin 2021, Plus The Autumn Leaf Of The Day #7

 

"Don't drag your feet in 2022. Drag a corpse instead.

 It's the only way to kill 2021."

 

~Anthony T. Hincks

 

See that stair goblin. It's not a ghost or a monster or even 2021 sitting there, it's my sweet child Joey. He loves cuddles and smiles. He loves to take mad dashes up the stairs, around the bedroom, and then back downstairs to the living room and kitchen. He, and his brothers, Hendrix and Dylan, are the light in my life. The people who provide me with joy and meaning. I get to take care of them, and in return, they take care of me, well actually, us. Now that my dear hubby is retired, he gets to spend every day with them. 

 

My life is small right now. As my last friend has passed away, and it's difficult to make new friends, but it's okay. In some ways I am kinda glad it's just us. Last year was a shitshow. The thought of never seeing 2021 again never fails to make me smile. Say it with me, it was the year of one of the worst moves I have ever had, and hubby and I both got Covid-19. We missed most of the birds on the Pacific Flyway, and someone stole Christmas packages off our porch, with both of us sitting in the living room. But I think my favorite, OH MY GOD moment of 2021, might have been when someone totaled our new SUV and the cars belonging to 5 of our neighbors, one beautiful morning last October. Sigh. what a year.

 

So if I could, I would drag 2021 behind my little red Mini Cooper. I would take it straight over the Altamont Pass, and through a corn field, before finally drowning it in the delta. But I can't, so when something comes up that even remotely has to do with 2021, I pretend it is nothing more than a residual haunting. A ghost that sometimes floats through the room, says boo, and then disappears out the wall of our kitchen. The ghost of 2021 will rise up from time to time, and I will get the wiggins, but then it will stop and I will be fine. At the end of every day, I know Joey will be on the stairs, waiting to walk me to be and tuck me in, and all will be right with the world.

 

 

~Me

He's Home, And Autumn Leaf Of The Day #6

 

"I've always marveled that geese can feel a call stirring, rise on hardy wings to engage it, and without contemplation, compass or map complete the feat. And could it be that they achieve this astounding accomplishment because far too often contemplation. compass or map rob the call by sterile analysis when we should liberate the call through expectant obedience."

 

~Craig D. Lounsbrough 

 

He's home! My favorite of the species of goose. The king himself. The Greater White-fronted goose has finally arrived in lower Sacramento county, after a long trip from Siberia. I have been checking, pretty much since the end of August for it, at all the usual spots. Cosumnes. Woodbridge. Stone Lakes. Even the Clifton Court Forebay, with no luck at all, but on Sunday, there he was, relaxing in the water off Desmond road. Visiting all those places paid off by awarding us at least one new bird each time. And if there wasn't a new bird for this year's file, there may have been more than one moment of deep cute, such as a mother Grebe, floating happily in the water, with one of her babies on her back. Sigh. But knowing he is back moves me a little more toward normal. I am thinking about my projects, and not about painful memories. I am planning to set a new goal to find. The Caspian Tern, or maybe a Black Oystercatcher. So many birds await!

 

Clark's Grebe with baby.

 

 

~Me

Canada Geese, Late In The Day. Plus Leaf #5

 

"If, of all the seasons, there is a season in which a person completely forgets himself and constantly watches the magical environment, it is undoubtedly autumn!"

 

~Mehmet Murat ildan

 

 That old familiar song... honk... honk honk. I am not completely sure what the geese are saying, but it sure sounds like, I love autumn, to me!

 

 

~Me

 

The Red Dragonfly Of Summer And The Autumn Leaf Of Late September

 

"Autumn was San Francisco's summer. The days were bright and warm, scented with drying leaves and fading flowers and the ever-present salt air."

 

~Susan Wiggs

The Lost and Found Bookshop

 

 Finally, a dragonfly. I hoped to be able to photograph one over the summer, but either it was too hot to think about venturing outside to do some photography, or when I did get out to the delta and it's sloughs, there was nary a one to be found. Ironic that I saw some along Desmond road yesterday, happily dancing about in the late afternoon sun. Autumn isn't exactly their season. Or is it? I don't know much about them, except that they are pleasant little creatures to photograph, and they eat nasty things like mosquitos. Anyway, I have had several days in a row of happiness, and I hope to keep up that momentum. I just want to be happy again, which I think I will be, I just need more time I guess.

 

~Me