Showing posts with label Butterflies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Butterflies. Show all posts

Saturday, August 23, 2025

It's That Time Again, The Inbetween Time

 

Simon, Adopted July 4th, 2025 
 
A kitten is the delight of a household.
 All day long a comedy is played out
 by an incomparable actor.” 

Champfleury,



It's August 23rd, and that means it's the anniversary of Ellipsis. I got the date wrong last year, which will tell you how much I gave a shit, but this year it means a little more to me then it did a year ago. This blog, which may seem quaint in a world of micro-blogging, serves a profound purpose to me. It is the record of not just my life, as I navigate along, but also as a continued goal to achieve. Sometimes I want to give up. Use my photoblog as my only record, but then happy things come along, and I can't wait to share them with the world. Happy times like beginning a new chapter. Well world, meet, Simon! He's my next chapter.
 
He was a happy turn of events, in a devastating time in life. When my beautiful Dylan passed away, I basically wondered around for a while. I pushed my feelings deep, and concentrated on my beautiful Hendrix and Joey. To my surprise, Hendrix mourned Dylan, deeply. They snuggled together all their lives, and believe me, they fought. I was caught off guard about how deeply Hendrix grieved. I watched him as he cried and searched and stopped eating. I took him to see Dr. B. who said there wasn't anything wrong with him, but his mommy knew there was, because I was feeling it too. 
 
Hendrix lived another nine months. In June, he suddenly became ill, and finally passed away. He was just a few months shy of his 17th birthday. A long time for a cat. In his years he was 84 years old. He worked hard his whole life caring for all of us, and he was tired. I can't begrudge him that, he earned the time to move on. The last time I saw him, he was on his way downstairs to the living room, where he passed away around 6:00 am the next morning. It hasn't even been three months, and I miss him deeply. I miss his love. He loved deeply. But sometimes, if you are open to life, you will find magic along the way.
 
Simon came along like magic. About three weeks after Hendrix passed away, hubby and I were walking out the door, when we noticed 4 little kittens playing with the neighbors cat, who I always called, Socks. I am not sure whether or not those people ever named her. They were deeply strange people, but I will speak of that some other time. Anyway, hubby and I discussed getting a kitty at the right time, when the right time made itself known. So when we asked about the kittens, and how old they were, we found out that they were born the same week Hendrix passed away. It felt like more than luck to us, it felt like Hendrix sent us love.
 
And now we have a Simon, named after, Paul Simon. Or My little Butterfly, which is his first official nickname. All cats have several nicknames, according to Old Possums Book of Practical Cats. 

He is a wonderful kitty. His momma cat moved away, along with the family next door, several weeks ago, so now I am the momma. He is a bright kitty, he knows his name, and he understands the words, no and bad. He's playful, especially on the curtains. YIKES. But I got him some curtains he can tear up, until he learns what is okay to play with and what isn't. He's a good little eater, and digs into Joey's food every chance he gets. He has already had his first set of big boy shots, but there are more to come. And he loves his Sesame Street friends.  Big bird was his first friend, and even at 4 weeks old, he dragged him everywhere. He purrs deeply and seems happy to be with us and Joey. In fact, they are already play friends, and the fighting is rare, but it's all about boundaries, just like humans have to learn. It's been a long time since we raised a cat, and this will be the last one we do, because we feel our age as old folks. Time marches on, whether we want to go with it, or not.
 
I call Simon my little butterfly, because the back of his head looks like a butterfly. When he moves his ears it looks like a gorgeous butterfly in flight. His ears are trimmed in a white, which only adds to it. He is gorgeous! So, that's the beginning of this new year of Ellipsis. Autumn is coming, as are the birds. Halloween and the deep autumn holidays. Leaves, glorious leaves, and our vacation in October, the magical month! So much to share! Hopefully we won't get Covid-19 this year, but who the hell knows. Through all of it, this blog will be here, to help me clear the head noise, and remember it all. We won't discuss Trump... for now. 
 
Happy 23 years old, Ellipsis.  Onward.
 
I am back every day now. The Autumn Leaf project begins on September 22nd. 
 

Wednesday, October 04, 2023

The Little Yellow Butterfly


 “And the yellow sunflower by the brook, in autumn beauty stood.” 

~William Cullen Bryant 
 

Eurema Lisa, or "Little Yellow Butterfly" are so tiny, that it took the whole summer of practice with the camera to get a decent photograph. Fortunately I finally got one I was satisfied with, while I was on  Woodbridge road, on the last day of September. Then my second photo was done at Yolo Bypass, a couple days later. It was such a pleasant way to end the month of September and to begin October.
 
 Autumn... the great healer!



Thursday, August 26, 2021

Butterflies, Leaves, Music, Cats, Books, Movies

 
"Another secret of the universe: Sometimes pain was like a storm that came out of nowhere. The clearest summer could end in a downpour. Could end in lightning and thunder."
 
~Benjamin Alire Saenz
Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe
 
No, I didn't forget to blog yesterday, I just, frankly, I just didn't care too. We heard from the HOA about heaven on Empress. It wasn't good. Our messed up credit meant, at least to them, that we were basically riff-raff. It seems your life needs to be perfect, in order to put a roof over one's head. I have a rating of 671 - 691. Alan's is a bit lower. Riff-raff I tells ya!!! It didn't matter that our credit was good enough to purchase a home 6 years ago. It didn't matter that I haven't missed a rent or mortgage payment in 31 years. It didn't matter that I haven't missed a single payment of anything in four years. It just didn't matter at all. All that mattered was that we fell off a financial cliff four years ago. Unless something changes soon, when all is said and done, and all goes well with the new buyers, we will clear about $175,000 and be homeless. How fucking ridiculous is that? That was rhetorical, of course, but at the same time, my GOD, I am scared. But, Rosalie reminds us, that was one HOA. All hope is not lost. In fact we are going to see more places in the next few days. Again, I just need to remember what Mark said, "it wasn't meant to be our home"... paraphrased.
 
And until then...
 Butterflies, leaves, music, cats, books, movies and more. 
 

 
~Me
Stockton, California
August 26th 2021

Saturday, December 14, 2019

The Last Week Of Autumn...


Autumn ends in exactly one week! One week to go... officially. But I will keep looking for it, and posting it for as long as I can, because I have to, autumn and I understand each other. That makes about three things in life I really understand. Autumn, Alan and the cats. Not necessarily in that order. Today's leaf of the day was featured in more than one post this season, but I keep coming back and marveling at it's beauty. It's shaped like a butterfly, and is alive with color. It's a leaf from the Judas tree. I think I am going to have to plant one in the yard. I am really beginning to love it, and in the spring it puts out the most beautiful pink blossoms. What I wouldn't give to have my very own forest! It would have to be located on a cliff, overlooking the San Francisco bay, and have at least 5 acres on which to put maples and oak and every other autumn tree imaginable.
Oh well, maybe one day... someday.

 #83 Leaf Of The Day
December 14th 2019
Ione, California
Nikon
~Mood: Happy
~Me   :)

Saturday, November 30, 2019

Autumn Treasure Hunts

"Early this morning I read about your autumn, and all the colors you brought into your letter were changed back in my feelings and filled my mind to the brim with strength and radiance.
Yesterday, while I was admiring the dissolving brightness of autumn here, you were walking through that other autumn back home, which is painted on red wood, as this one's painted silk."

~Rainer Maria Rilke
Letters On Cezanne

That was one of my favorite leaves from this autumn. It's butterfly shape was magnificent! It's so unusual, and I found it fairly early in the season. October 5th, to be exact. It was on one of my favorite trees, in Ione, California. There aren't many trees there that I consider an autumn go to, but in the back of a park and ride, on the edge of town, are two small trees that produce tiny colorful leaves, and this year, this little butterfly leaf was waiting for me. Sometimes leaf peeping is a little like a treasure hunt, which is great and its just one more reason why I love it so much! Hopefully, I will get to go autumn leaf searching every year for the remainder of my life. One day, someday, I hope to be able to visit New England and jump into a big pile of leaves in Massachusetts or upstate New York, but it's a dream for right now, which is okay, because daydreams like that, inspire me to keep looking forward and not back. The very day autumn passes away this year, will be spent preparing for leaf peeping next year. I love the research, and I love looking forward to the beauty that will be coming my way!

 #69 Leaf Of The Day
November 30th 2019
Sacramento, California
Nikon


~Mood: Happy
~Me  :)

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Happy Thanksgiving 2019

"Thankfulness creates gratitude, 
which generates contentment, that causes peace."

~Todd Stocker 

 #67 Leaf Of The Day
November 28th 2019
Nevada City, California
Nikon


~Mood: Happy
~Me   :)

Thursday, October 18, 2018

The Decline

"Change is an unsuspecting and finicky foe. You don't realize the strength or grip until it's too late."

~Dave Cenker
Second Chances


A short break from the usual autumn tribute. No pumpkins in this post, decorations, or thoughts of ghosts, just a collection of beautiful butterflies! Lovely, and gentle! Fragile and too few! On past visits to the Monarch Sanctuary, in Pacific Grove, California,
the eucalyptus groves were dripping with thousands of monarchs, resting in the leaves, until the sun turned, and they all flew at once into the warmth of the late afternoon sun! It was enchanting! But yesterday, Alan and were shocked to see only about 15 total! It was very sad, and really quite disturbing!

The earth is hurting. Climate Change is real, and it's at the most serious point it has ever been, yet it is being blatantly ignored by the American government, who should be leading the world in connecting the scientific facts and evidence to common sense approaches to reversing the damage already done! The most recent climate study is frightening! Total devastation could happen within my lifetime, And believe me, based on the obvious lack of butterflies, bees, and deer that usually wander all around the sanctuary, coupled with the decline of the number of different bird species in the are, that had seemed to drop off as well, it left me not just depressed, but also truly scared! 



#27 Leaf Of The Day
October 18th, 2018
Stockton, California


~Mood: Quiet
~Me 

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Tiny Dancing Diamonds

"I love autumn despite the drench weather. I think it symbolises the end of misery and the beginning of glee. It gives hopes that sooner or later, flowers will bloom again, green buds will sprout from trees, and that which is dead will come back alive."

~Aishah Madadiy
Bits of Heaven

Here is the last of the photos from my trip to the Haggin Museum and Victory Park. There were several water fountains in the park, but it was this one, just to the left of the entrance, that I enjoyed the most! The sun was shining down, almost directly over it, and the sky was so blue, that it just looked like diamonds dancing in the air. It was lovely. It was peaceful, and as I mentioned before, in a previous post, I could have stayed there all day! Bright sunny days are great for photographing fountains, but I have never photographed a fountain in the fog! 

Hopefully, I will be able to this winter! I really hope it will be a, cold and foggy, Christmas day, because who wants 70 degree weather for Christmas? I guess, a lot of people on the east coast do, and I guess I take California weather for granted sometimes, but just once I would really love to spend a Christmas, in a place with lots of snow. To me, that would be a bit of Heaven. Alan, the boys, and me, all cuddled up, with all the lights out except for the Christmas tree, watching the snow come down. Heaven on earth... definitely Heaven on Earth!

#14 Leaf Of The Day
December 14th, 2017
Stockton, California


Mood: Happy
 ~Me :)

Monday, December 14, 2015

Butterfly Leaves

"A withered maple leaf has left its branch
 and is falling to the ground; 
ts movements resemble those of a butterfly in flight,
 Isn't it strange? 
The saddest and deadest of things
 is yet so like the gayest and most vital of creatures."

~Ivan Turgenev
Fathers And Sons

Humor me. It's the last few days of Autumn, and yeah I know the seasons aren't capitalized, as a rule, but I just love Autumn so much, that I can't bring myself to write it properly. So, I snub my nose at doing it the right way, and do it the way I want to. So there! The grammar Nazis be damned!

IT'S AUTUMN!
Leaf Of The Day
December 14th 2015
Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Friday, October 31, 2014

On All Hallows Eve... A Look Back At October 2014

"The wind outside nested in each tree, prowled the sidewalks in invisible treads like unseen cats. Tom Skelton shivered. Anyone could see the wind was a special wind this night, and the darkness took on a special feel because it was All Hallows Eve. Everything seemed cut from soft black or velvet or gold or orange velvet. Smoke panted up out of a thousand chimneys like the plum of funeral parades. From kitchen windows drifted two pumpkin smells: gourds being cut, pies being baked."

~Ray Bradbury
The Halloween Tree

Well, the vacation is almost over, as is my favorite month, October. It was a busy month, filled with long drives, and leaf gathering, not to mention all the fun of San Francisco. I have mixed feelings today, as Halloween is my favorite holiday, and yet it comes at the very end of my favorite month!
That's a difficult dynamic.
Oh well. I am not that sad really, I know I romanticize it a bit, but really isn't October amazing?

Let's have a look back... Shall We?

Page One
Page Two
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
Page 17
Page 18
 Page 19
Page 20
Page 21
Page 22
Page 23
Page 24
Page 25
Page 26
Page 27
Page 28
Page 29
Page 30
Page 31
Whew! 31 pages... that's a new record number of photographs for a single month! We had a lot of fun, and it was just what I needed to shake off all the gloominess 2014 had. We are still on vacation through Wednesday of next week, so there are a few more vacation photos to come.
Stay Tuned!

Leaf Of The Day
Mood: Happy

~Me :)