Spring, Yet Autumn Too

 

“She turned to the sunlight
    And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbor:
    "Winter is dead.”

 ~ A.A. Milne,

  When We Were Very Young

 

 “There's a promise between
beginnings and end.
And, there's a hope between
end and beginnings..!!"

O' Autumn, you'll never stop,
singing your sanguine songs.”

 
~Monika Ajay Kaul

 

I found this photo, while rummaging through my photo files from last April. I didn't post it at the time because I was feeling less than enthusiastic about everything. Yes, everything! The election had been rough, and I caught Covid-19  in December. Dylan passed away, and Hendrix was having some problems with grief and age. Last spring seemed black and white most of the time. But one day I was out with Alan, enjoying a walk through the Cosumnes River Preserve, I saw this blossoms beauty, but I don't think I grasped the bigger picture. I took that picture, because the blossom's colors remind me of autumn. Through all the sadness, I knew deep down that autumn would eventually come, and despite everything, I would feel better again, and I do. We are only a little ways in, and it's been incredibly magical. Marin county was stunning the other day, and we added 5 new birds to our album for this year, and one to our life list! Needless to say, Bodega Bay was... fabulous! Pictures to be posted soon! And we are planning a lot more trips. One for next week, fingers crossed. I am not mentioning where we are going, it seems like every time I do, something happens and we end up not going. So, you'll just have to keep visiting Ellipsis to find out where I am gallivanting off to next!

 

And there's a lot more to come!  

 

 

 

 

  

Welcome To Spring

 

“Clean air; bird song; fresh flowers;

 and the leaves unfurling on the twigs.”
~Pierre D'Alverne 

 

A little later today we say goodnight to winter. I am a bit blue about that fact because I enjoy the dark rainy day, I like when the wind blows so hard that it makes spooky noises in the house. I like watching old black and white monster movies, because being scared shouldn't be held to autumn exclusively. But as I sit here mourning winter, I realize that I also enjoy the warmer summer days. My arthritis really enjoys it! And I adore Jelly Belly Jelly Beans. Every single flavor! Which I tend to crave this time of year. In autumn, its candy corn, in winter, Ghiradelli chocolate. Summer finds me crazy for old fashioned candy, like Whoppers and Mounds bars. It's all good, but I just bought a 4lb bag of Jelly Belly for the season. It helps me deal with Trump bullshit, but I will save all that for another day.

It's There's Blossoms And Birds, It Must Be...

 

“Springtime is the spirit of strength.”
~Lailah Gifty Akita 

 

Okay... fine... it's SPRING! I know spring doesn't officially begin until next Wednesday, the 19th, but I cannot fight it anymore, it's spring, and has been for a couple weeks! Oh well, hopefully summer will begin early also, and then we will arrive back at autumn, the most beautiful season of the year, faster! Usually the autumn light begins in August, towards the end of that month, but I will take it earlier than that! Yes, please! Now, lets address a different subject, why I capitalize the names of the seasons. I get that they are general nouns and therefore not subject to capitalization, but don't they look nicer when capitalized? So, I am perpetually wrong about that, but it's a hard habit to break! Oh well, I'll try. Okay... spring... there!

Hey, I just seemed to grow as a person,

 and I have Spring to thank for it! DOH!

 

👧

Golden Blossoms, Red Fences

 

“We tried the golden age's of lands, what of all the other soil, water and air, with all that lives in each, who wants a bit of gold too. 

 

 Who knows when does winter ends.”

 

~Unknown

 

That's was a beautiful autumn moment in front to me, but obviously winter and spring are there too. Seasons are magical, as I overstate every autumn. To be honest, I believe it's the magic of autumn that allows me to see it in nature, when I need it the most, and there it was the other day... autumn, winter, and spring all sharing one space. Some folks may not notice the things that make each seasons special, but in that photography keeps you in the moment, I am lucky enough the be able to really see spring blossoms, the Mexican free-tailed bats of summer, the glorious autumn leaves and the shadows of winter. I live in the moment as much as possible.

I love it. 

 

It's Narcissus Not Narcissist, Dummy!

 

"Rare indeed is the seed who can bury its nightmares

 and still stem and blossom into it's wildest dreams."

 

~Curtis Tyrone Jones

 

 

I could say a lot about the opening arguments of Trump's Impeachment trial, but fuck me,why? I'm so sick of this stupid nightmare. He's out of office and he's putting on a laughable defense all the while inciting, Insurrection: The Sequel, for March 4th. This could have all been over with before he left office, but McConnell held out for this week. Why did McConnell do that? Perhaps to help gin up March 4th? What's March 4th? Apparently that's the day all real presidents are sworn into office. It's history, look it up, LIBTARD! Sorry, I was channeling a Qanon idiot for a moment there. As I mentioned, he is out of office, this Impeachment trial is expected to last a week or so, then there is whatever fresh HELL is about to take place on March 4th. After that, I hope the name Trump will simply go live on a farm in upstate New York, where it can roam free and live happy, like pets and humans, all do one day! If you get my drift.

But in the mean time...

 

Paperwhite Narcissus 

Woodbridge Ecological Reserve

Lodi, California

Nikon

 

~Carly 

If There Is Autumn To Be Found I'll Find It

"When people look at my pictures I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice."

~Robert Frank

I know that autumn isn't everyone's favorite season, so I do feel the need to apologize from time to time about just how heavily dependent on that season I have become. Shrug. What can I say, I still need it, long after it goes away, so I will pretty much be looking for earth tone colors in the natural world, long into any given new year! Sometimes I think I have become an autumn detective, lol, but really, it is just that it has become a game of distraction to ease my brain and body. A game with beautiful benefits mind you, but a game all the same. So is there any harm? Am I really missing out by not paying much attention to other palates? Is it harming my photography over all? Well, I am forcing myself to consider those questions, because I know I have gone through a lot of creative changes since moving in 2015. As this year moves along, I may give myself small assignments of seeking out spring colors and see how that works with my choices in non organic subjects. Hopefully I will learn, and grown in my photography. That's the goal for this year. To see an improvement in instinct and goal!

For now... a new autumn gallery.

I was down in Hayward yesterday on business, and to my surprise I actually saw a tree with some early pink blossoms. It was lovely. I am going to do as much practice with as many blossom colors as I can. I would love to find some Quince, that has always been one of my favorite blossoms to practice on. I am enthusiastic about 2020, at least as far as my photography goes. Everything else... politics... is still scary as fuck! It's all just time travel I suppose. It is what it is!

Mood: Happy
Me   :)

Our Love Story Began In 1977

"February is merely as long as is needed

 to pass the time until March."

~J. R. Stockton

 

I had a day out with the camera last week. Well, it wasn't just a day of photography, it was a date with Alan. An early Valentine's Day date. After I did some photographs, of some early blossoms, we bummed around the East Bay a bit. First we visited Berkeley for a little while, and it was fun to be back home, then we went to see When Harry Met Sally, at the Orinda theater. When Harry Met Sally, is very similar to how Alan and I first met, and the journey to how we became friends first, then how we fell in love.

The movie even begins 1977, which is the same year Alan and I met. And there are more similarities, like how I always order certain elements of my meal, on the side, just like Sally does, and Alan, at times, is just as analytical and quirky about things as Harry. And it took us the same amount of time to fall in love, as it did Harry and Sally. Really, that movie could have been written about us!

Alan and I had ourselves a Harry and Sally day, and it was nice to have some time with him, especially in our old stomping grounds, the place we love most, Berkeley. Visiting Berkeley is always somewhat magical for me. Whatever stress I feel, seems to be lifted off my shoulders as soon as we hit the city limits! It's beautiful, it has everything anyone could want. The food is magnificent, and there is always something to see. It's a wonderful place and I miss it very much, so it was the perfect way to begin our mini vacation. 

But that was just Thursday, we got four full days of each other's company!That's something we haven't been able to do too much of recently. Work, and overtime call, as we continue to struggle with bills, taxes and all things tedious and necessary in the world of adulthood. You know how it is... time waits for no one, and February has less days than any other month of the year, so like the saying goes...

"Time flies whether you are having fun or not."

~Mary Engelbreit

But isn't it great when you are having fun?

Mood: Relaxed
~Me :)

 

Laughing And Crying In Autumn

Carson City, Nevada

October 22nd, 2016

"Autumn has come

and reason has gone.

Yesterday, I sold the sun for you

and tonight the stars are running

 When you first spoke

you slowly annihilated my world. 

Your mouth was like the sea...

in your kisses I sank.

Your hands were the Ocean...

in your caresses I sank.

I ask for no salvation on this moonless night

I only ask for more autumn."

~Kamand Kojouri

The photo at the top of this post, was taken on October 22nd, 2016, in Carson City, Nevada. The color around the Sierra was at it's peak, and down in Carson City it was no different! Autumn last year, was so alive with color, that in my imagination it seemed like if I stood very still, I could almost hear the season laughing out loud! I know, I am a bit unreasonable when it comes to autumn, but autumn is as much a part of me, as my arms, legs, and especially my eyes! And no one loves a good deep laugh as much as I do!God knows I stumble enough through life, making goofy mistakes, that I can safely say, I laugh at my own mistakes several times a week!

Fate gave me a sense of humor, and a love of photography, reading, and I am a bit of a joker. I like making others, and myself, laugh. It's good for them, and it's good for me! But mostly, I enjoy sharing my photography, and sharing the things that I see that touch my soul! I think if fate ever really got mad at me, it would take my eyesight, so I wouldn't be able to see another autumn or flower, or bird. So, I try to be good to others, and live a quiet life, although I get a little pissed off on social media from time to time, but I am not alone in that. These are trying times, and it feels like America is at it's lowest point, of my lifetime. So many things have changed, especially since the 2016 election. But I guess my assessment is true or false, depending on who you ask. 

The photo below was taken on November 6th, 2017. A little over a year after the first one. When it comes to autumn, a few weeks can make a big difference. We had a storm come through around the first of November, and the first bit of cold wind, rain and snow came down in Northern California, the Western Sierra, and all the way down to Carson City. It was a fast moving storm, but a potent one, that dropped a lot of leaves! Some trees fared better than others. There were a few around Carson City still full, and lush with leaves, but others looked like like skeletons, sad and ready for their winter shrouds to cover them.

As much as I love the leaves that covered the trees in the 2016 photograph, the 2017 photograph touched my mood with much greater accuracy, as to reflect how I feel inside right now. I am ready for winter in my soul. This year has been such a dark, cold place with Trump in office, that sometimes I feel inside, like those cold dark branches, waiting for the winter to come tell me it's okay to sleep for a while, to give me the energy, to move forward.

There are three seasons just waiting to have their time, and I have to endure them, somehow, to end up back in autumn, where I am at my happiest, and most content. With a little luck perhaps all this madness will be behind us a year from now, at least I hope so, and if so, maybe the autumn leaves will be laughing once again. One year I was finding autumn leaves in March, sharing tree branches with blossoms! Wouldn't that be nice to see again?

Carson City, Nevada
November 6th, 2017

"You make autumn mist taste like champagne

and turn winter rain into the elixir of life itself."

~Sanober Khan

Leaves And Blossoms
March 25th, 2013
Cull Canyon, California

#17 Leaf Of The Day

November 17th, 2017

 Cull Canyon, California

Mood: Inspired

~Me :)

The First Full Day Of Spring

"She turned to the sunlight

And shook her yellow head

And whispered to her neighbor...

Winter is dead." 

~A. A, Milne

When We Were Very Young

I guess I should have posted my Welcome To Spring post yesterday, but I completely forgot about it! I used to think about photography, and the turning of the seasons. I used to enjoy documenting things like that, but that was before Trunp. As much as I hate to admit it, I find myself either consumed with Trump and his shenanegans, or with working on the house, or with paying bills. It's a tough time right now. I flux between being scared to death and too tired to feel anything. It seems like life was a lot easier before Trump decided to take over the world.

Was it really? Or did it just seem that way? I am not sure. I guess there have always been things to worry about in the news, but with every other president that I can remember, I don't think I went to bed scared every single night. I do now. Will I wake up to the sounds of sirens going off, warning us that a missile is on the way? Did he collude with the Russians? And if he did... is it too late to undo whatever damage that has been done? And what about all the people that are going to lose not just their health care, but the very food out of their mouths?

I flux between feeling deeply sad for them, and resentful that they refused to listen when we told them Trump was a charlatan. It's all so sad... so frustrating. Yesterday, James Comey admitted that the Trump and associates have been under criminal investigation since last July, yet nothing was said prior to the election. Comey sure found a way to plant serious doubts about Clinton, but didn't tell anyone about the Trump investigation. Unbelievable. And yet I believe it! Our own FBI swayed the election toward a man under criminal investigation for colluding with a foreign government attempting to undermine our democracy.

So yeah... I am in a bit of a fog. The seasons are just going by. Hopefully the fog of this past winter will lift soon, and things will be clearer this spring and summer. I hope so.

Welcome To Spring

 Mood: Quiet

~Me 

Marching On

"It was one of those March days

 when the sun shines bright and the wind blows cold:

 when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade."

~Charles Dickens

Great Expectations

It's the last few weeks of winter, but you wouldn't know it. The hard rain of this past few months has finally let up, although we are due for a small storm this coming Sunday! The rain has been healing both for my moods, and for the drought damaged Central Valley! Everything is a beautiful green, or if in full bloom, pick, purple, white and a dark pink! It's pretty, and it inspires me to grab the camera and search for beauty. I didn't photograph much of winter, I just wasn't in the mood, but as my mood thaws, so does the earth, and it's just too much beauty to not embrace.

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Happy Easter

Easter is...

Joining in a birdsong,

Eying an early sunrise,

Smelling yellow daffodils,

Unbolting windows and doors,

Skipping through meadows,

Cuddling newborns,

Hoping, believing,

Reviving spent life,

Inhaling fresh air,

Sprinkling seeds along furrows,

Tracking in the mud.

Easter is the soul's first taste of spring."

Richelle E. Goodrich

From Our House To Yours...

HAPPY EASTER!

Mood: Quiet

~Me :)

A Spring Perspective

"Spring is nature's way of saying... Let's Party!"

~Robin Williams

The last week... GOD IT'S ONLY BEEN A WEEK...has been shitty, but not so shitty that I can stop for a moment and enjoy how lovely everything looks. Life has a way of working itself out, so I am hanging on, and beautiful blossoms like this one really helps me to keep things in perspective.

Everything Falls Into Place

Mood: Okay

~Me :)

And Spring Went BOING...

"Behold, my friends, the spring is come; 

the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love!"

~Sitting Bull

Nikon CoolPix S3500

Well, appropriately for the last day of winter, a little light and color was added to my world. Yesterday afternoon, Alan found my pink Nikon CoolPix S3600 that went missing last autumn! I had only owned it a couple months, when I thought I had lost it forever, a sad occurrence if ever there was one! And I pretty much hung a puss for most of November and December over it, but my loving husband Alan, got me a new one, right around Christmas. It was one of my early gifts. I chose a Nikon CoolPix S3500, this time in purple. While I haven't gotten out very much in the time I have had it, from what I have seen of it's capabilities, it can hold it's own to the original Nikon. So now, with the new old camera back in my life I am very camera prolific! It was quite kind of winter to leave me with a special bit of sun... my gorgeous, girly Nikon CoolPix S3600 in pink. 

A pink camera, and a purple camera, perfect for photographing flowers!

WELCOME BACK TO MY

 NIKON S3600

 in Pink

October 24th 2014

Nikon CoolPix S3600

 

And Welcome To Spring!

Mood: Happy/Silly

~Me :)

Late Winter Music

The old tree shook

White blossoms slowly float down

Dancers in the wind

~Alexandra Kim

Winter is definitely coming to an end. The trees are just beginning to blossom, and everything is taking on a very cheerful light. When it comes to photography, I love the winter sun, almost as much as the autumn sun. Sunny winter days take on such a lovely soft, warm golden glow. It makes one hear wind chimes, even when none are around. It's lovely to photograph, and spend a little time daydreaming in. Little Farm in Tilden Park, in Berkeley, is a wonderful place to sit and sketch, or photograph the beautiful natural surroundings. I have found inspiration there in all four seasons.

Blossoms Of Tilden Park

Berkeley, California

Silently a flower blooms,

In silence it falls away;

Yet here now, at this moment, at this place, 

The world of the flower, the whole of the world of blooming.

This is the talk of the flower, the truth of the blossom: The glory of eternal life is fully shining here.

~Zenkei Shibayama

The air smelled so sweet today, spicy with a soft smell of citrus. 

Intoxicating

Mood: Inspired

~Me :)

A Week Of Pink: Days 3 And 4... Blossoms In Dark And Light

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

~Anais Nin

Blossoms. To me, they are the most beautiful part of spring. We are currently in the middle of my least favorite season, and it is more like summer than anything resembling spring! All the blossoms came and went by the early part of the season. California has been unseasonably warm this year, in fact, I only remember a few truly cold days back at the end of November! Otherwise it's been depressingly bright and sunny! If everything is this green now, and the temperatures continue the way they are going, I think we will have a very early autumn this year! Not that I am complaining, it's my favorite season, but I hate the thought of it being cold and rainy for Halloween! Oh well, if it is, I will be warm, I am thinking of going as a Sock Monkey this year to match my car!

;)



About the photos...

The top photo was taken right as the sun began to set. I waited until the very last moment I could to snap it, and then applied a little photo editing magic to achieve the desired effect of a night blossom. I loved working with that photo! It has always been one of my favorite projects!

Photo #2 was a simple photo to do. It was taken on a clear, crisp, cool spring day. It took almost no effort, which makes it one of those photos I have a hard time taking any compliments for. I didn't do anything but see a moment of nature, and save it for all time. It took no special talent, just maybe the ability to spot the beauty in an otherwise ordinary day.

Photo #3 below, was taken on a very foggy, cloudy late winter day in 2006. It was the end of February I think, and it had been warm the previous week, then turned cold and misty suddenly. I was lucky to find some blossoms that didn't have much, if any, cold damage to them. I loved photographing this white blossom. There was just something about the scene that could have kept me there forever!

 

Okay, two days, and three different looks at blossoms under different natural conditions, and the opportunities they provided me. I loved these times, and I am still referencing back to what I learned on those days! That's my favorite thing about photography, while you are grabbing a moment to save forever, you are constantly learning from that moment the rest of your creative life!

Mood: Happy

~Me :)