Gorgeous Beyond Description And Autumn Leaf Of The Day #2

“And the sunsets of autumn... are they not gorgeous beyond description? More so than the brightest dreams of poetry?”

 

~Charles Lanman

 

Golden days of autumn, especially when Autumn comes through the door early, like this Autumn has done, leave me in a constant state of daydream life. Drowsy, and at the same time full of energy! I want to run everywhere, and see everything! I tend to forget about silly things, like mosquito bites, and silly people like Donald Trump. All I can do is look for the joys unnoticed. Like knowing that the bird in this photo, is a Black-necked Stilt. And knowing of the happiness he is feeling over having a tasty meal to eat, and a gorgeous sunset to enjoy it by.

 

 Ethereal Autumn moments like these make me feel like a kid again.

The Magical Autumn Equinox

 

“His beard was all colors, a grove of trees in autumn, deep brown and fire-orange and wine-red, an untrimmed tangle across the lower half of his face. His cheeks were apple-red. He looked like a friend; like someone you had known all your life.” 

~Neil Gaiman

  Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders

 

My friends arrived at Woodbridge yesterday afternoon. This will be the third year in a row I have been lucky enough to be one of a very few to see the Sandhill Crane arrive at the Woodbridge Ecological (AKA The Phil and Marilyn Isenberg) Reserve, in Lodi, California. I know I am one of the few because not only have I been out watching, and listening for them, but I have been following along on multiple apps, to find out when they will make it home. This year they are in about a week late, so needless to say, I have been on pins and needles.But when I watched the pair I spotted take to the sky yesterday, I was in awe, and that is why I got such a bad shot. I was in the moment. Sometimes being in the moment is a lot better than getting the perfect shot. My heart is very happy. So the first to arrive were the Canada geese, followed by the Snow geese, next to come was the Greater White-fronted goose, and finally my lovely friends, the Sandhill crane. And it's all the more magical that they arrived on the Autumn Equinox!

“I’m still in love with you, I want to see you dance again. Because I’m still in love with you on this harvest moon.”

 

~Neil Young

 

More to come! 

 

 

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #1

 

Galt, California

September 2023

 

"That old September feeling, left over from school days, of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air... Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning as if last year's mistakes had been wiped clean by summer."

 

~Wallace Stegner

Angle of Repose

 

 

 

 

Goodnight Summer, Good Morning Autumn

 

“But when fall comes, kicking summer out on its treacherous ass as it always does one day sometime after the midpoint of September, it stays awhile like an old friend that you have missed. It settles in the way an old friend will settle into your favorite chair and take out his pipe and light it and then fill the afternoon with stories of places he has been and things he has done since last he saw you.”

   

Stephen King

  'Salem's Lot

 

Autumn begins at 10:50 PM tonight, so it's time to say goodnight to summer, and then greet Autumn with a welcome kiss on the cheek. I have missed you old friend. Thank you for coming back.

 

Autumn Plans

 

“Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first September was crisp and golden as an apple.”
 

~ J.K. Rowling,

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

 

The birds are back! This blog is about to become nutty with birds. Oh and autumn leaves, and pastries, and pies, and delicious autumn meals. Meatloaf's, Shepard's Pie, and cider... delicious spicy ciders... and cookies. Maybe, oh my, Maple Bacon Brussels sprouts.

 

Sorry... hungry now... gotta go make Caramel Apples!  

 

  

On The Last Full Day Of Summer... Reflections

 

Mockingbird

Bruceville, Road

September 2023

 

“I think the sun is a flower.
That blooms for just one hour.” 

~Ray Bradbury

  All Summer in a Day

 

Today is the last full day of summer, and strangely, I am not as happy about it leaving as I have been in past lifetimes. I am not sure how I feel about it all. It was a dreadful summer in ever usual sense, and in the sense that I my niece and nephew passed away, way too young. The temperature outside didn't seem as hot as in past years, or perhaps it was just me, floating in a sea of cold thoughts that gave me the chills every night. After we got the news, I wanted more out of the summer, something to make me forget the pain and to help me avoid the sudden bursts of grief that would not only haunt my daydreams, but my sleep as well. But there was very little to fill that need. Although, happily, and quite by misadventure, I went looking for birds on Desmond road one day, only to not find a single one! On the way home, I did find a bridge, with several thousand Mexican Free-tailed bat emerging from beneath!

 

The Mexican Free-tailed bat is NOT a bird, it's a bat, but it was a winged creature and I was intrigued! I came home, did my research, thought about it, and the next night hubby and I went back to see and stand among them as they ventured out for the night. And venture out they did! You know. I posted about it a few posts back, I met the challenge of being around a scary bat, without fear! I got to feel proud of myself, have a lot of fun, and even forget, for just a moment, about the pain I was in. It was a summer gift! Imagine that! Summer has a glorious redeeming gift that I can now revisit every night in July and August next year, if I want, but really, I think a few nights next summer will do! Why not every night? Well, as it turns out I am allergic to mosquito bites. It's called Skeeter syndrome. The bite reactions are itchier and more painful then most folks feel. They also blister. ITS NOT FUN! But Benedryl Gel is excellent for healing them should they blister, so it was all ultimately worth it!

 

So that was my summer adventure. We now kiss summer on the cheek, and send it off to it's well earned sleep. Goodnight summer.