Autumn Leaf Of The Day #11

 

"Autumn is a second spring, when every leaf is a flower."

~Albert Camus

It Was A Very Good Tuesday

 

"We begin to read each book, 

not knowing if we will see a peacock's feathers, or a baboon's arse."

~Kevin Ansbro

Hubby and I took a ride to Tracy yesterday, just to check out the range on the new EV, and while there we decided to check in at the Clifton Court Forebay, to see what new and wonderful birds might be lurking about. We first found about 100 or so swallows, cliff swallows I think, flying around the first bridge on the road. There may have been a couple different species of swallows, they were flying so quick I couldn't quite get a shot of them. I need to come back in the early evening, when they are slower and ready to roost. You can spot them on the telephone lines sometimes. Next, to my delight, we came across a flock of Caspian Tern. I love those birds, and I was afraid I wouldn't get to see one this year, but happily, there they were, flying on both sides of the forebay! I only wish they could have been a bit closer, my camera is feeling it's age, but still, I'm not really complaining! It was nice. And it was nice in general to get away from all the drama of worldly events. As irritating as those worldly events were, finding, photographing, and being able to enjoy the beauty of those beautiful birds erases a lot of bad! And to make it all that much better, I had a delightful dinner with my hubby, a Jersey Mike's sandwich, and a Habit Burger Garden Salad. Yep, it was a pretty good Tuesday!

Common Buckeye Butterflies

 

Common Buckeye Butterfly 

(Junonia coenia)

"Nature's message was always there for us to see.

 It was written on the wings of butterflies."

~Kjell B. Sandved

The beauty you see is the wonderful, Common Buckeye, butterfly! I haven't seen one in years, and not at all since moving to the, San Joaquin Valley! The last time I saw them, was when I visited the butterfly exhibits at the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco! Needless to say, I was very happy to be in it's presence the other day! It was like being back in 2012 all over again! I checked some facts, and it seems they are common in the Bay Area, mostly along the coast, and it's not out of the ordinary to see one here, I just haven't noticed one! Hopefully it's an amazing turn of events, and I will be seeing a lot more of them here in the Northwestern San Joaquin Valley!

Bullet Holes

 

"Speaking personally, you can take my gun,

 but you'll take my book when you pry my cold dead fingers off of the binding."

~Stephen King

There is so much beauty at the Cosumnes River Preserve. Nature at it's most beautiful. From the amazing sunsets, to the birding I have done there. I spotted my first ever Bald Eagle soaring over the preserve, it was the most majestic thing I had ever saw. The wildflowers in the spring and the autumn leaves in the Fall, every bit of the best of nature is to be had. Even the Mexican-free tailed bat adds additional joy to just being there, in the moment. So why would anyone be so hollow inside as to shoot up a sign, asking those visiting to not bother the birds? It's sad, and a shame that folks behave in this manner. It's fucking heart breaking. Sometimes I just want to give up, stop stepping out of my condo, but the world is so scary that I need the respite of this amazing place, so I keep calm and carry on. Why does every area of life have to be so exhausting... and deeply depressing?

The Beauty Of The Cosumnes River Preserve

Autumn Rice

 

“Today I felt the first brush of autumn as in these waning days of summer it gently leaned over an expectant horizon. And it is in having lived summer to the fullest that autumn is positioned to fill me to the fullest. And I think that if we would engage all of the differing seasons of our lives in a manner such as this, the appreciation of ‘what was’ would be magnified a hundredfold by the anticipation of ‘what is yet to be.” 

~Craig D. Lounsbrough  

 

I am trying to stay focused and see the beauty of autumn, like this wonderful, Great Blue Heron standing in a rice field, but world events make it very difficult fully step out of the muck sometimes. The harvest time in the San Joaquin valley can be a feast for the eyes! The tomatoes, the corn, the rice fields that help the ecosystem, the grapes ripening in rows at the vineyards along the back roads, and, yes, the arrival of every kind of bird you can think of! But always haunting me in the background is what scary, boneheaded move Trump will do next! It affects my photography. Stupid, right? And the thing is, I don't know why I just can't put it away? Monsters I suppose, we are in October after all. He has quite the zombie posse around him now, doesn't he?

 

Oh well, maybe I should take it slow. Wake up everyday knowing something might be upsetting and take some deep cleansing breaths. Cookie breathing. Read, The Complete Idiots Guide How To Getting Along With Difficult People. I bought that book years ago, but I think I need a refresher course, although I don't know if it will work against what amounts to an inanimate object! But on the plus side, I get up every day, that's better than I did during his first time in office. I have trips planned in October, to see new things. I am planning a trip to Sacramento, to tour the capitol. There is a lot of history that I have never seen. The Gold Rush ghost towns are waiting to be photographed, as are the autumn leaves in the western Sierra.

 

But tomorrow, when the alarm goes off, I will get up and try again. That's the season of things.

 

Autumn Emotions

 

“I needed a long and lingering autumn, a tenure with which to ease into another state of being.”

 
~Ruchika Tomar,

 A Prayer for Travelers

 

I love watching leaves float to the ground.They are in their last moments of life, and they deserve my respect and empathy. But more important they need my deep appreciation for their work all year, and the beauty revealed. Isn't autumn, and oak leaves, just magical?

 

  

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #47

 

November... the month where no one knows what to wear.

 

~Unknown

 

 

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #44

 

"The white towers and golden domes of the church gleamed in the sapphire sky. The luxuriant autumn asleep till morning. The silence of the earth seemed to merge with the silence of the heavens and the mystery of the earth touched the mystery of the stars."

 

 ~Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #43

 

“A life is a moment in season. A life is one snowfall.

 A life is one autumn day.”

 

 ~Alan Lightman

 

 

Autumn Leaf of The Day #39

 

 

 

“There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir: We must rise and follow her, When from every hill of flame She calls, and calls each vagabond by name.”

 
~William Bliss

 

 

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #1

 

“Aprils have never meant much to me, 

autumns seem that season of beginning, spring.” 

~Truman Capote

  Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Three Stories

 

Can you believe it? We have finally arrived at the first day of autumn! A welcome old friend. I photographed this leaf in Castro Valley yesterday, after I dropped off some unused food and a test kit Dylan never got to use. Oh my. Autumn will have a much different feel to it this year, but as I have always said, and believe even now, autumn heals me like nothing else, and I am grateful for that! Hopefully it will fill my heart with every beautiful thing, and I will see beyond this overwhelming sense of loss. Sorry to be so maudlin, I won't be like this every day, I promise, but autumn is the season of letting go after a life well lived, isn't it? And all things in their time.

Autumn Begins

Sunday, September 22nd, 2024

5:43 a.m. PDT

 

The American Kestrel

 

“Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development,

 invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears.” 

~Edgar Allan Poe 

 

I don't think the American Kestrel has ever brought me to tears, but I do know that I photograph them every chance I get. They catch my eye not just because of their beauty, but because at a glance the share a lot of the same features of a Merlin, although Merlin's are a bit bigger. I have yet to find a Merlin, to add to my birding lift list, but I am having a great time searching for them. That's how I found the American Kestrel is the smallest of the falcons, but what a cool, mighty little bird!

Sierra Snow

 “Snow falling soundlessly in the middle of the night

 will always fill my heart with sweet clarity” 

~Novala Takemoto,

  Missin' (Novel)

 

I never get tired of looking at the snow on the Sierras. I can stand in the valley, my favorite spots are Woodbridge road, in Lodi, and Desmond road, in Galt, and just marvel at the beauty of the hills covered in the color of snow. Like I said a while back, the San Joaquin Valley isn't home, and it will never be as beautiful or as exciting as San Francisco, but it has some unique beauty that I am really glad I got to see and appreciate in my lifetime.

 

 

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #83

 

“In every change, in every falling leaf there is some pain, some beauty. And that's the way new leaves grow.” 

 
~Amit Ray 

 

Yet another one, but it just fits today. 

 

 

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #59

 

“I would regret losing the warm green of summer
were it not for autumn’s promise of gold.” 

 
~Laura Jaworski 

 

 

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #38

 

“It looks like fallen petals, and it looks like rain. It looks like the sounds the birds make at dawn. It looks like the aisle of grocery stores when a song I love suddenly begins to play overhead, and I cannot help but dance a little dance. It looks like a sigh, a kiss, an unmade bed. It looks like Cheerios in a white bowl with a bit of silence on the side. It looks like a plain vanilla cupcake in white paper, a dance with the wind, pink toenails, warm socks. It looks like a fire against the cold of winter, and a deep lake cool against a summer sky. It looks like chick flicks, books that make you cry, and all the candles blown out on the first try.” 

― D. Smith Kaich Jones 

 

That sums up nicely what it feels like

 to be completely in love with autumn and all it's gifts.  

I am a happy girl.

Under Ibis Skies

 

“I loved autumn, the one season of the year that God seemed to have put there just for the beauty of it.” 

 
~Lee Maynard 

 

 The number of White-faced Ibis have doubled in the last week or so, which is a very nice turn of events. I love seeing them fly overhead in the late afternoon. They are so quiet. In fact, I don't remember having ever heard them as they fly, and only sometimes while they are on the ground. They make a funny little sound when eating, almost a nom nom nom sound only high pitched. The juvenile Ibis are green, mostly, while the adults are dark, almost burgundy and purple. When the sun hits them just right, their plumage is downright magical. Oh my. I better stop writing this post, or I am going to shuck off all responsibilities, grab my camera, and spend the rest of the afternoon photographing these fabulous birds! I wish, but alas, I can't. I have a BIG day planned with the camera for Friday, so the Ibis will have to wait. But maybe one day next week I will make the day all about them.