Autumn Leaves Of The Day #19 And #20

 

"Fallen leaves of gold,

they quietly wither,

Only a touch of comfort remains in the branches."

~Sir Kristian Goldmund Aumann

The leaf you see above is a repeat. Well, I should say, it's not a repeat from this year, it's a repeat from a previous year, which is being used as a placeholder, for a leaf that I will replace it with soon. You see, there aren't many leaves to be found that aren't the same as I have already posted, or hopelessly withered on the ground, torn to pieces. It has been a dry, hot year, so unfortunately it might be a lot further into autumn, before I find any real color. I am not worried. I know I will find some in Sacramento, and some in the East Bay, it's just a matter of time until I get there. Until then, today's leaf is new, but Saturday's wasn't. I don't know, perhaps it's time to hang up this project, we'll see. 

Today's Autumn Leaf...

I know there's more to come.

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #15

 

"Falling leaves are like dancing dreams."

~Anonymous

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #12

 

"How beautifully autumn leaves grow old. 

How full of light and color are their last days."

~John Burroughs

American Naturalist

On A Late Autumn Day...

 

"The forest has a thousand moods... 

For every mood an answering bird. 

The bird is but a living word

To voice the spirit of the woods;

His own, the singer must sing;

He may not touch an alien string,

Nor silent be, nor fail the key,

Lest that aerial symphony.

which ever and forever weaves

It's mystic numbers through the leaves,

Should lack one deep or tender tone.

However dark, however lone

The shadow or the solitude,

The mighty oneness of the wood

Links singer unto singer there,

And pours one choral on the air.

~James H. Ecob

The Choral of the Forest, 1911

A beautiful Osprey, on a late Autumn day.

Late Autumn's Hummingbird

 

"Some of my old memories feel trapped in amber in my brain, lucid and burning, while others are like the wing beat of a hummingbird, an intangible, ephemeral, blur."

~Mira Bartock

The Memory Place

I see a hummingbird, sitting at the very top of a certain branch, of a certain tree, every time I visit Cull Canyon Park, in Castro Valley, no matter what season I visit. I have no idea if it's the same one every time, or if this type of tree is just perfect for hummingbirds, but it's always a Anna's Hummingbird, and it loves to pose for me! Anna's Hummingbirds have been a real challenge for me to photograph, most of the time I have had trouble getting their colors, that bright or pink under their chins, or sometimes their bright green coat on their backs. It's difficult from any distance! But for some reason, I seem to do better with them in late autumn. Maybe it's because I am more relaxed, or is it really the autumn sun that brings the color? I don't know which, all I know is I am grateful for it. These birds are absolutely gorgeous, and they make life beautiful!

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #79

 

"There is a subtle magic in the falling of old leaves."

~Avijeet Das

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #74

 

"Thoughts swirled around her head, like leaves in a breeze."

~Diana Jaques
The Falling Leaves

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #72

 

"Autumn is the very soul of metamorphosis, a time when the world is poised at the door of winter... which is the door of death... but has not fallen."

~Catherynne M. Valente

The Girl Who Circumvented Fairyland In a Ship Of Her Own Making

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #71

 

"Autumn burns brightly, a flame running a flame through the mountains, a torch flung to the trees."

~Faith Baldwin

Woodbridge Road In Autumn

 

Isenberg Sandhill Crane Preserve

Lodi, California

No sun... no moon!

No morn... no noon

No dawn...

No sky... no  earthy view...

No distance looking blue...

No road... no street... no "t"other side the way...

No end to any row...

No indications of familiar people...

No courtesies of familiar people... for showing 'em...

No knowing 'em...

No traveling at all... no notion...

"No go"... by land or ocean...

No mail... no post...

No news from any foreign coast...

No park... no ring... no afternoon gentility...

No comfortable feel in any member...

No shade... no shine... no butterflies... no bees

No fruits, no flowers no leaves, no birds, 

November!

~Thomas Hood

You can't really say Woodbridge road is nothing special, especially this time of year, in fact it can be downright charming. We have Sandhill Crane, and Belted Kingfishers, assorted ducks, burrowing owls, and hawks of all kinds! On clear days there is a striking view of the Sierras, especially in autumn and summer. In fact, you can feel, and see, the snow on the mountains! It can be magical watching the crane come in to rest for the evening at the, Isenberg Sandhill Carne Reserve. It's usually quite peaceful there, if you don't count the sound of cows mooing and farm work being done, but it's all good, those are pleasant in their own way. It's life on Woodbridge road, and I really wouldn't want it any other way!

The beautiful I have seen on Woodbridge in the last few years!

I love that road, and I am going to miss it very much after we move.

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #60

 

"The thinnest yellow light of November is more warm and exhilarating

 then any wine they tell of."

~Henry David Thoreau

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #48

 

The multicolored leaves were softly glowing against the black sky, creating an untimely nocturnal rainbow which scattered it's spectral tints everywhere and dyed the night with a harvest of hues: Peach, gold and pumpkin orange, honey yellow and winy amber, apple red and plum violet. Luminous with their leafy, the colors cast themselves across darkness and were splattered upon our streets and our fields and our faces. Everything was resplendent with the pyrotechnics of a new autumn"

~Thomas Ligotti

The Nightmare Factory

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #47

 

“I fall in abundance like the leaves do for the carpet of flowers... I see much about the headstrong winds and how they dance in circles.”

 
~Reena Doss,

  The Last Leaf Of Autumn: Barefoot and falling, infinity is a number that has none to end

 

 

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #39

 

“October's Party
October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came -
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.” 

~George Cooper 

 

The leaves aren't very bright this year. I have only come across a few that are showing off in the lighter colors of autumn. I don't know... it's like something, or someone, drained the colors from them this year. I will keep looking, because no matter what, I will celebrate autumn as long as it wants me to, whether it's smiling or not!

 

 

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #37

 

 “October air, complete with dancing leaves and sighing winds greeted him as he stepped from the bus onto the dusty highway. Coolness embraced. The scent of burning wood hung crisp in the air from somewhere far in the distance. His backpack dropped in a flutter of dust. He surveyed dying cornfields from the gas station bus stop. Seeing this place, for the first time in over twenty years, brought back a flood of memories, long buried and forgotten.”

 
~Jaime Allison Parker,

  The Delta Highway

 

 

 

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #34

 

“Nature is an alchemist,
gathering the last of summer’s green
and turning it to gold.”

 
~Laura Jaworski 

 

 

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #32

 

“Its cozy shops all had their windows decorated with the palette of autumn. The air was cooler today, and she smiled at the just-emerging colors on the leaves of the trees nestled along the street.”

 
~Heather Flynn,

  Novelists in November: A Wild Blue Wonder Press Anthology

 

I just love it when the autumn sun, shines through a singular leaf, among of pile of different shapes and colors of  leaves. Like the witch of autumn is giving it a little extra bit of love, as it passes away. I don't know, I've felt that way since I was a little girl. It's as if autumn carries that little bit of empathy and compassion than other seasons do. 

 

It's all about the light.