Autumn's Migrating Bufflehead

 

"Fall comes with many colors, to challenge a green summer."

~Neamat Alishiryan

The prettiest of the migrating ducks, the pretty little Bufflehead! They are fast little diving ducks, and they are the smallest of that class, weighing only about a pound. They are great fun to watch, and quite a challenge to photograph, as they dive down really fast, and bob back up only when they feel like it. They are gorgeous birds, the males with the colors of the rainbow around the head, and the females have a beautiful white streak on both sides of their head. Their migrating flight brings them from Alaska and Canada, flying at night to reach the Pacific coast and sometimes spots inland, like Cosumnes River Preserve. It's nature like this, that makes me thankful that I moved out to the San Joaquin valley, because I never saw them when I lived in the Bay Area. They are all over the place here, but now that I know I can find them in Bodega Bay, I will visit more often. That will be especially convenient if we move somewhere near the upper coast, of Sonoma, or Marin Counties, or even somewhere on the western Delta.

Grasshopper, GRASSHOPPER!

 

“Even tiny plants experience autumn.” 

 
~Devika Todi,

  Dreaming in A Fish Bowl

 

 

 

Okay, first, let me share, I hate bugs, but love and appreciate what they do for the ecosystem, but damn they are spooky looking! Like a mean spirited alien from some unknown planet. I've learned about different insects since moving to the San Joaquin Valley, but I hadn't gotten around to the grasshopper. As it turns out, I learned that they are actually fascinating creatures, and not bad to have around. Most cannot possibly be less interested in humans. But you see, I visited, Mount Diablo State Park, last week, and I met a bug a little less harmless. The Black wasp. Ugly, and come to find out, it has a really painful stinger. To their credit, they are not really aggressive, but you know, sometimes you meet someone and you just don't get along with them, the chemistry is just off!

 

To be fair, it was mostly me I guess. It flew into the car window and landed on my hand, surprising me, and I panicked! It bit/stung me, I went to smash it on the door, and it bit/stung me for the second time. It. FUCKING. HURT! We had only just arrived at the top of park, at 3,848  feet! What a way to begin a pleasant day. I am very sentimental about Mount Diablo, it has soothed my nerves to know that even if you live in the valley, if you can see that mountain, then the Bay Area is close by. I get a little bogged down out here, my nerves fray, my depression gets to me, and of course, there is gun fire all around me, but I can always see Diablo from anywhere along Hwy 5, and feel like I am home when I need it. 

 

As for the grasshopper, I didn't find him on Mount Diablo, I found him at the Yolo Bypass wildlife area, in Davis. And he got nowhere near me, but damn did I have a tiny flashback of panic! I was not interested in being stung by yet another insect, especially since I haven't been stung once, since visiting the bypass for the first time several years ago. Lets keep that place pure. Soon, the ducks, geese, cranes, and stilts will arrive, and I plan to visit... often! So no drama please. I also have not ruled another visit to Mount Diablo! They have a lot of wonderful creatures to see, like the tarantulas, especially during their mating season in October, and foxes, coyotes and on occasion, the California Condors. I'm kinda planning for a visit there next month, but I have a long list of places I would like to visit. I dunno, who knows, it could happen!

 

19 Years And A 19th Nervous Breakdown (An Anniversary Post)

 

"Homesickness is not always a vague feeling, nostalgic almost beautiful emotion, although that is somehow the way we always seem to picture it in our mind. It can be a terrible keen blade, not just a sickness in a metaphor but in fact as well. It can change the way one looks at the world, the faces one sees in street look not just indifferent but ugly... perhaps even malignant. Homesickness is real sickness... the ache of the uprooted plant"

 

~Stephen King

 

First off, I should acknowledge that today is my 19th year of blogging, and oh my, the places I have went! From the Bush administration, to the big AOL Journals migration to Blogger, to the many wonderful photo challenges I have shared with friends, to my own migration from the big Bay Area out pricing of affordable housing, and the eventual purchase of our house, and of course, the eventual sale of our first house last year. Big stress stuff. And all that without mentioning surviving the Trump administration. A thing I didn't think possible. But keep in mind, that was an attitude I feel quite vindicated about, in light of his taking Top Secret nuclear program documents to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, after the asshole was voted out of office!

 

This year has been difficult. In some ways it has felt like the last 19 years has somehow rolled into past last year. The move from the house was a shitshow. I am still picking up the emotional pieces. I am tired. Heartsick. A little lost. And, well, scattered. The move was a huge part of it, but catching Covid-19 and a husband retiring didn't help. Neither did the murder of our Chevy Equinox, in a hit and run, in the wee hours of a chilly October morning. But I guess Covid-19 has had the most profound effect on my life. Little by little the Long-Covid seems to be healing itself, but it is a scary thing to think about a virus having such a deep effect on me almost 9 months later. It's an invisible monster, living inside your body, reminding you every day of your mortality.

I wish this post was more filled with joy for having blogged all this time. I want to feel more positive, but I am finding it so hard to find joy, which is known as depression. I am working with a new therapist to try and breakthrough my sadness. I have hope, and hubby is carrying the weight. Because of him I do have a lot of moments of joy. We still have our movies, and the fur-babies. We have music and jaunts bird watching. I have a good life, I just need to find it again. One positive thing did happen recently to mix things up. Our landlord is letting us stay put for at least one more year. I can stop worrying about having to move again. I'm home.

Things feel like they are trying to transition from all the painful negativity to a safe and quiet existence. I have a lot to work on while I am in this condo... this home... like learning to let go of the life I left behind in our home. I try to not think of the house. I haven't grieved it yet, so, oh goody, THAT'S coming! Right now the thing I need to let go of is my life in the Bay Area. All the places I grew up around, all the memories and ghosts I was used to dealing with. I guess I grieved it wrong or something. Or if I am being honest, not at all.

 

 I'm still bargaining with the universe over it. I search the rentals for ANYTHING we can afford, ANYWHERE in the Bay Area, and of course it's always for nothing. Affordable housing in California is practically nonexistent, but the Bay Area recently surpassed NYC in lack of affordable housing. My old life is always there for visiting, but sometimes visiting, and then leaving, hurts so much I think all it does is set me back. Trump didn't successfully get San Francisco off the map, at least not yet, so I must learn how to balance love and sorrow. Who knows what the 2024 election will look like? He could get back into office, and then who knows what button he will push. 

Sorry... it was all the uprooting talking just then.

"Monsters are real, and ghosts are too.

 They live inside us, and sometimes, they win."

~Stephen King

 

~Me

August 23rd 2022

 

 

Then The Trees...

 

"Then the trees, after their long silence, began to talk again, in yellow and red. And the days began to shrink under one's very eyes."

 

Mirrlees, Hope

 A little later today, I will be painting my office, Behr Color #MQ4-59 aka Purple Gladiola. I bought the paint five years ago, but because of assorted nasty incidents, I never got the project done. That's all behind me. It happens today, and by tomorrow, my office will finally reflect my taste and that I am finally home. I live in Stockton, and that's not the death I once thought it was. I am incredibly lucky. I have friends. I have love. I have my cats, and Alan. I have my own office, in the house I fell in love with, on an unbearably hot day, in early August, 2015. And then come to find out that it was first sold on June 29th, 1962. My date of birth! I am pretty sure it has been waiting for me. It took me a long time to let go of the life I had in the Bay Area, like someone who passes away, and then clings to the mortal coil. But finally, I made my way to the light of a this new life and I am okay. In fact, I am better than okay. I am home. All that time passing it on the freeway, when driving to and from the Sierra to do photography, it was waiting for me all along, and to think, I tried to push it away. We were meant to meet, and be family.

 

~Carly

October 26th 2020

Stockton, California

Black Friday

"But there is always a November space after the leaves have fallen when she felt it was almost indecent to intrude on the woods... for their glory terrestrial had departed and their glory celestial of spirit and purity and whiteness had not yet come upon them."

L.M. Montgomery

Anne Of The Windy Poplars

It's Black Friday. When we lived in the Bay Area, we visited Union Square in San Francisco on Black Friday religiously. I have missed it since we left. Hopefully, later today, we will venture out to a mall or maybe Janet Leigh plaza, to people watch or just to get some air, but I'm not sure. Sometimes it's nice to just sit at home and watch some movies. I love my weekends with Alan, especially holiday weekends, but thinking about our trips to the city makes me a lonesome for the good old days of my life in the Bay Area. I try to not look back, but the memories are so good, and when I was making those memories, I never thought in a million years life would change as much as it has. Still, I have Alan and the boys, and that never changes, but my love for them grows more and more.

~Mood: Happy

~Me  :)

Where Memories Gather

"Stop looking at the walls, look out the window."

~Karl Pilington

The Ricky Gervais Show

Seasons 1-3 

Okay, so I began removing some of my photographs off the sidebar. I might take even more of them down, because as my pal Jeff once advised, the sidebar was "too cluttered and would have a more impressive look to it, if it wasn't so busy." He was right, but I had such fond memories of all the photos I had posted there, that it was difficult to take them down. I wanted to hold onto each and every moment and memory, that I had created in the Bay Area!

 When I began blogging on Ellipsis, I had designed my blog for myself, and not for those who may visit. There is some logic to that, in that there is no real way to know who has come by, or how many consistent readers I have on a weekly basis, so I decorated the blog, as I would my home! But in the last few months, as I pondered whether or not I needed cease my blogging all together, I began to see how a new outlook on the blog might be just what I needed to inspire me pick the camera back up, and look for the unseen or overlooked!

So, the collections in this post, are a last look back, at the photographs that graced my sidebar from 2006 until now. They all mean a lot to me, but I have a new folder for them, and it feels good to start looking for the reality I am in right now, as opposed to the life I had in Berkeley. In 2015, life picked me up, twirled me around in a shit storm, and threw me hard into the Central Valley, and into the city of Stockton, where I landed with a HARD THUD! It was difficult to come to terms with those facts, but I've been lucky to have had Alan by my side, as we dealt with it together. I'm so lucky, and so blessed to have people who care about me, and who give me strength.  

But revamping Ellipsis, is another necessary step toward moving forward! We have decorated our home, one room at a time, and with each coat of paint, or one more carefully chosen painting, or rug, or toss pillow, home becomes a little more HOME. Decorating a new place takes time, and in a weird way, the house will guide you with lighting, and natural sounds, until it all comes together in your imagination. As that process nears completion, I am finally coming out of that three year fog I was in, and accepting that it all goes together, even my blog, because it is a part of my creative reality, even if no one reads my blog or sees my photographs.

Ellipsis is a place for my memories to gather.

And it's time to make new ones!

 

Autumn trips. Time spent in Golden Gate Park. Sunsets from the Berkeley Hills. My rose garden. My beautiful Golden Gate Bridge. I love looking back on those days, even as I plan new trips and new photo opportunities. 

I'm excited!

#11 Leaf Of The Day

October 2nd 2018

Ione, California

~Mood: Excited

~Me :)

 

At Christmas... Wrong Will Fail, Right Will Prevail

"And in despair I bowed my head;

 'There is no peace on earth," I said; 'For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!'

The pealed the bells more loud and deep:

'God is not dead, more doth he sleep!

The Wrong shail fail,

the Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men!'"

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 Christmas Bells

We did it! We put up some Christmas decorations! A little scaled back this year, but the tree is up, and the teddy bears are on the job, and we both feel a little better! The holiday blues are fading a bit, but we both know this coming week will be a bit hectic! We have some business in the Bay Area. Neither of us have done our Christmas shopping, and as you probably know, there is a rumor on Capitol Hill, that Trump will commit the ultimate act of Obstruction of Justice, by firing Robert Mueller!

So much is simply out of our control. We can't make Trump, suddenly give a flying Gingerbread Man about his country! If he makes a move to fire Mueller, it could very well turn into a Saturday Night Massacre, ala, Richard Nixon. The difference is,  more and more Republicans are bowing down to Trump, and ignoring the Constitution. Also different, Nixon didn't have it's own propaganda network, financing his delusions of innocence. And finally the scariest of all... Nixon was the leader of a cult, HELL BENT on accomplishing the Apocalypse or a civil war, whichever comes first! Not to mention, Nixon actually loved his country, Trump has NO IDEA what love is, be it love between family, or love of country. He is all about the money.

Merry Christmas!

I guess all we can do is forge ahead, and hope the rumors are wrong, but firing Mueller on December 22nd, is just the kind of pussy move Trump would make. He is the biggest coward to hold any political office, let alone the presidency. I guess when it comes to him ever being held accoutable for his misdeeds, we will just have to wait and see, and hope for the best outcome. I wish his cult followers could love their country, more than they do their fantasies of a neoconfederacy. Oh well, like my Ommy used to say...

"If wishes were horse, beggers would ride."

I guess the updated version would be...

"If wishes were horses, Roy Moore would have ridden well."

And, by the way, why hasn't that jackass conceded the election yet?

#17 Leaf Of The Day

December 17th, 2017

Knight's Ferry, California

Mood: Guarded

~Me

 

Tree Art Safari

 "Everything you can imagine is real."

~Pablo Picasso

I miss Berkeley! It's one of my favorite places in the Bay Area to go, especially when I am weary. It has amazing food, in the Gourmet Getto on Shattuck avenue. The people are wonderful. It's absolutely lovely at any time of year, and of course the energy around town is terrific! It's a university town, so there are collage students everywhere, and a lot of diversity! You can sit at a coffee shop and hear 10 different languages all speaking at the same time! It was and is music to my ears!

But when I am visiting, and I just need a little less head noise, my go to place is Tilden Park! It has breathtaking views of the bay, and on a clear day you can see Oakland, San Francisco, Marin County, and the San Mateo County peninsula. The park itself is quite lovely and full of things to do, like the Botanical Garden, Lake Anza, Little Farm, a golf course, a Stream Train and an amazing carousel, with a long history! During this time of year, it is decorated for the holidays at Halloween and Christmas, with big inflatable characters, and every kind of holiday icons you can imagine. It has a very special place in my heart!

Now, if you have been following my photography, or my blog, for any length of time, you know I love public art, and Berkeley, has an abundant amount around town, both commissioned, and spontaneous! I have photographed a lot of the art downtown, but I decided on this vacation, to photograph a couple pieces of the creative tree art, that line the road up the hill to Tilden Park.

The tree alligator at the top of the post, has been on Claremont avenue, for a few years. And even when I have been at my most weary it has made me smile! But this year, to my happy surprise, a little further up the road was a tree Octopus! Claremont avenue is becoming quite the outdoor museum, and I wonder what tree animal will come along next? Whatever it might be, I know it will be inspiring, and a joyous piece of real art!

#14 Leaf Of The Day

November 14th, 2017

Truckee, California

Mood: Happy
~Me :)

Horse Sense Is Just Common Sense

"Most horses don't walk backwards voluntarily, 

because what they can't see doesn't exist."

~Terry Pratchett

Soul Music

Last year, in late autumn, I decided to go for a ride on the road that crosses right by one of my favorite parks in the East Bay. It's a beautiful, quiet road to drive, its about nine miles long, and on any given day you can see all kinds of animals, and at times, some pretty unusual birds along the way. I used to really enjoy it, especially, between dusk and deep nighttime hours, because that's when the really interesting wild life moved about. Deer and opossums, raccoons, and on one evening drive Alan and I spotted to cutest black and white kitten, which as it turned out, was in fact not a cat at all, but rather a small baby skunk! Thank goodness it wasn't intimated by us in the least, and we got away with not being scented, but that was pretty silly, and we were laughing pretty hard at our stupidity by the time we got home! 

Life changed a bit when we moved to Stockton. While it's a rural area, there aren't any canyon roads like in the East Bay. You don't get to see animals like this close up, like we did back home. See, I still do that after 2 years, I still refer to the area I was grew up in as "home." It's difficult to break a habit like that. I was in my 50's when we packed up and moved, and since we moved here, I haven't ventured out much on my own, and I guess that is part of the problem. I need to go on short car rides, alone, and learn my way around, that's the only way to break out of this self imposed shell. Perhaps this is the year to start doing that. I have been well on my way to becoming an agoraphobic. That doesn't make a lot of sense to do. 

I am not really sure why I have climbed into this shell. It's not go for a photographer, even if it is just a hobby. I have seen things through my lens I would have never seen otherwise, and I know my camera made me mature both as an artist and a human being. It has helped me really see my own life, through my pictures. I have a good life, and live really worth living, but I haven't been doing much of that! I crawled into the safety of a life half lived, inside the walls of my house. Not alive, but not really dead. A life half lived. but really, a life half lived is no way to live a life! 

I wonder what pictures I have missed in those two years?

 It's been a really difficult few years, but it's really time to move on.

It's just common sense!

Leaf Of The Day

September 29th 2017

Stockton, California

Mood: Happy

~Me

Change-A-Palooza

"Never miss an opportunity to see anything that is beautiful."

~Janet Hobson

I didn't post yesterday, but it's okay, right? I was busy. Busy wrapping presents, baking 6 dozen cookies, paying the bills that get paid in the middle of the month, doing laundry, photographing more leaves, searching recipes for Baked Ham, bringing in all the late packages ordered from Amazon.com and Groupon, 15 at last count, tracking down a new noise in the house I never heard before and de-worming the cat. Hendrix to be exact. Yes, he has worms... again!

This time, because I can't face putting him through the stress of putting him in a kennel and driving him 90 miles to see Dr. B., we are trying the tablets that kill worms. It takes about a week to work, but from what I have read it does the job. If it doesn't work, I will slip my kitty some Valium, and myself as well, and we will drive down to the Bay Area to the best doctor ever! Or will I? 

That's the debate between Alan and I. He wants to find someone closer, for Hendrix's sake. He doesn't want to put him through the long drive and the stress of the car and all the scary sounds. I want to make sure my kitty gets the best care possible, and that means Dr. B. . The problem is, my argument that Hendrix will be okay once he is home again, isn't a terribly strong one. I know Alan is right, but it doesn't make either of us very happy.

Sigh.

 Losing Dr. B, is probably the worst part of what happened. 

Sigh.

I guess I should find the boys a doctor up here, if for nothing else, emergencies, but it's difficult to trust anyone other than Dr. B., he is amazing, but I have to do whats right for the boys. Right? But what is that exactly? It's less stress for them to have a doctor here in town, but what if I can't find one who will be as good as their current one? Taking them on the 90 mile drive will terrify them, but I will have piece of mind that they are getting the best care possible. Either way, I hope these pills do the trick, I don't want my boys to be uncomfortable. I love them. They are my children. And as I sit here I guess I know what I have to do. I have to find them a doctor up here. 

Weep.

Sigh.

Stupid.

It's All Just Stupid.

And what is my lesson for the last full day of autumn?

Things Change.

Sometimes everything does, all in a single action.

I think I will concentrate on that plate of cookies,

 it's a thing of beauty. So are the leaves...

Leaf Of The Day

December 19th 2015

Leaf Of The Day

December 20th 2015

Mood: Exasperated/Sad/Frustrated

~Me

Next...

"Love sometimes comes like a dream... and leaves like a nightmare."

~Unknown

Wow I am tired. I suppose you might know by now that our plans have changed... drastically. We aren't moving into the place we picked out... planned for... bought curtains and appliances for. Nope. Not going to happen!

THAT DREAM WAS KILLED!

And when we realized that the dream was dead, we grieved.

It's been a rough few months. but as of Monday we begin putting the pieces back together.

We will find an apartment, hopefully in the Bay Area

And we will move on.

Life Goes On!

And time goes by so slowly, unless you are in a crappy hotel in the Central Valley!

In that case time pretty much stops.

Honestly... I HATE IT HERE!

Don't worry, the negativity will pass.

Mood: Quiet/Pissed Off/ Sad/ Disappointed/Homesick

Life Is Good Here

"I think small towns are the closest to heaven you can get on earth."

~Diana Palmer



I grew up in a small town, not this small town, but a similar small town, and I have to say I had many different feelings over the years about the virtues of growing up there... and the pitfalls. Sometimes a small town can seem big. Big in the sense that you can develop a certain amount of pride for whatever reason. It can feel really good to find out a celebrity, who you actually admire, was born and raised in the same little town you grew up in. But sometimes, living in a small town, one can feel so claustrophobic that you think all the air in and around the town has been suddenly sucked up through some invisible vacuum.

As I said, I didn't grow up in this particular small town, but one in the East Bay, so we had that in common. Over the years I have seen Pleasanton change little by little. When I was a small child, and my family would drive to the Alameda County fair, it was just a hop and a skip from downtown Pleasanton. That short ride to the fair was beautiful. Lovely green hillsides, and space. Lots of trees and space. Now there is so much development in and around the town, it can hardly been called a small town anymore, but in an odd way, it has that small town feel.

I think I might spend some time getting back in touch with my love of the Bay Area and all the little towns that comprise it. Public Art displays are popping up all over the 9 Bay Area counties, so it will be a nice adventure to get back in touch with what I love about living here. The people. The natural beauty. The community spirit. I love all the little festivals and celebrations unique to each town, and yes, the quirkiness. Like the small town in Contra Costa county, that boasts the smallest post office in California! Or the Old Niles area of Fremont, where Charlie Chaplin made most of his films. Life is good here. Really good. I love the Bay Area!

Mood: Inspired

~Me :)

Note: Tomorrow will be all about the art! "Art About Town: Pleasanton!"

It Was A Bit Windy Last Night!

"And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair."

~Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

 Did I mention it was a bit windy last night? Yeah, it was! Here you see the aftermath of the high winds, that followed the rainstorm, as it makes it's way down to Los Angeles! We were lucky, no trees fell on or around us. We didn't lose power, well, unless you count that less than 10 seconds of electrical blip we experienced around 6:00 P.M. Thursday night! We did however lose a beloved member of the family... my garden swing that my mother-in-law gave me for my 40th birthday!

Goodness, I loved that swing! Alan and I enjoyed many a warm autumn afternoon reading, while relaxing in the rose garden, on the swing. When I saw it's damage yesterday morning, I couldn't help but feel a bit sad, as I thought about all the memories of sitting on the swing with Elvis, both as he was a young cat, and in his final days. That simple garden swing meant a lot to me, but at the same time, I can't help but marvel at the irony, that while the swing was absolutely shredded, and twisted and pulled apart, the scarecrow only managed to lose her paper braids and hat! And looky there... Minnie Mouse, and my white lamb are still standing! :)

Who says Mother Nature doesn't have a sense of humor?

LOL.

But to make up for her wrath, she did manage to leave exactly two fully blooming roses left on the vines. One from my dark red rose Beloved, and one from the gorgeous, Red/Gold rose! I lost roses off of all the other rose bushes, so seeing those two roses, full with petals, made me very happy! And hey, even Paul, the Japanese Maple, is doing okay! As situations go... the windstorm, and it's aftermath, could have been much, much worse!




I really do have a GRATEFUL heart!

Mood: Happy, Grateful

~Me :)

I'm Sure The Cactus Is Happy

"God, it was hot! Forget about frying an egg on the sidewalk; this kind of heat would fry an egg inside the chicken."

~Rachel Caine

It's been hot the last few days. The Bay Area doesn't usually see temperatures like we have been experiencing this week. It's absolutely stifling! Sheesh. But yesterday was supposed to be the hottest day of the week, so that's a good thing, but I have to say, I am more than ready for this summer to be over! Only 10 weeks, or so, to go!

Blech. :(

Mood: Roasted

So, how about a little music to cool things down?




~Me :)

Utility Box Meet Art... Art Meet Utility Box

"Enthusiasm is the electricity of life. How do you get it? You act enthusiastic until you make it a habit."

~Gordon Parks

I love this fairly new art form of communities painting utility boxes. I spotted this one in downtown Hayward. Hayward began painting the utility boxes to fight growing graffiti, and now there are over 30 boxes throughout the city, making it a prettier place! And they aren't just in Hayward, I have been seeing painted boxes throughout the Bay Area in the last few years, and the list of participating cities is only growing! Personally, I love them, I think they add a nice splash of color to the landscape! Cute isn't it? I will have more of these soon, I want to make a whole day of it and see how many I can photograph.

Stay Tuned!

Mood: Hopeful

~Me :)

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 148~ RRC: Tell Me A Story

"A garden is a friend you can visit anytime."

~ Unknown

RRC: Tell Me A Story

 

Some years back, after an especially stressful day, I decided to create a Zen garden. By Zen garden, I simply mean that I wanted to create an area that would bring about thoughts of peace and tranquility. I had a basic plan in my mind. The area would be sectioned off by a small garden fence and there would be some flowers, such as stock, baby carnations, and roses that would fill the area with a spicy comforting scent. Stock and baby carnations both carry a heavy cinnamon/nutmeg scent, as do certain types of roses. I decided to make the center of the garden the focal point, by planting a Japanese maple tree. I found one that transitions from a deep crimson red in spring, to a bright copper color in autumn. That tree gives me the feeling of autumn all year long. And it has a name.



I call him Paul. After the man who owned the cottage we live in.



When we first moved in here, 12 years ago, it was under some extremely stressful circumstances. Alan and I were tired and a little shell shocked from life and all the fun curves it can throw you. We had seen some places, but frankly, from the minute Alan and I saw the cottage, we knew we had found our home. I don't own the cottage, we are merely renters, but it feels like it was waiting for us somehow.

 

 Paul was happy to rent to us, and in his time as our landlord/owner of the property, he stayed on top of things until just a couple months before his passing in 2009. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2005, and in the fours years after it had turned into 5 different kinds of cancer that slowly and painfully ravaged his body. I remember one of our last conversations, he called to be sure we were all set and didn't need any repairs. He always ended his conversations with me... "Thank you dear." Like I was his daughter. He was a special man.

So with Paul the tree in the center, I have planted a nice variety of fragrant, long blooming, beautiful roses. It is a pleasant place to sit, and watch the leaves turn, and see the different native birds to the area build their nests, and the butterflies and dragonflies bounce about, and occasionally, there might be a neighborhood cat or two who will come by and rest for a while among the flowers. I know my Elvis would have loved this place, he was always crazy about scents of all kinds. He taught me about stopping to smell the roses. It's true. I have a rose in the garden that I know he would have loved for its especially spicy scent.

 

There is a special rose in the garden for each of the friends and those I have loved who are no longer on earth. And when I spend time caring for them, or appreciating them, I feel especially close to those who have moved on.

Sometimes I still hear the ethereal musician off somewhere in the hills playing his music on his saxophone. After all these years, we still can't tell where the music is coming from, but I have giving up caring about that, I am instead just happy that as much things change, at least that is still a part of my day to day life... hearing whatever song the mysterious saxophone player wants to share. Its just all a part of my life... living here... in a small cottage in the East Bay hills.

 

About a year ago, the property was sold to new owners, and there is the possibility that I may have to move. It breaks my heart, but sometimes life pushes you through new doors. It's just the way it is. If I hadn't been pushed through a new door in 2001, I wouldn't be sharing about my garden in this post. But I am not going to fret about the future, right now, I am home, and all is well.

"Earth is so kind, that just tickle her with a hoe, and she laughs with a harvest."

~Douglas William Jerrold

Now that you have visited my blog, be sure to visit all the participants of the RRC! Just clink the link at the top of the post to be redirected to the official Round Robin Blog. That's where you will find the links and all the information you need to play along!

And also pay a visit to my friend JR. He has been a loyal participant in my A Photo A Day For 6 Months project, and he is an awesome photographer! If you haven't had the chance to pay him a visit, you should! He's fun!

JR
http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/10/apadf6-146.html

~Me :)