Showing posts with label December. Show all posts
Showing posts with label December. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 01, 2025

Happy New Year, 2025

 

Yes, I'm back, and with plenty to say, but just not today. Today I am off to do some birding, as this is the first day of our birding adventure for the year. So, see you tomorrow, when I will get the whole thing caught up. The thing I refer to as, LIFE, then and now.
 
See you then. 
 
Happy New Year!
 

Thursday, December 12, 2024

If It's The Holiday Season, It Must Be Covid-19 *UPDATE

 

“The decisions and choices that we make in society today will have a direct impact on the number of people who get hospitalized (with COVID-19) two weeks from now."

Jay Varkey, ID physician, Facebook Live
 Alan tested positive this morning. The current strain of Covid-19 making the round is Omicron Sub-variant XEC, so it's more than likely what he has. So far he has only mild symptoms, which I am grateful for. I suppose, in that we are in the same house, I will be getting it soon. I am beginning to get some symptoms. Scratchy throat, aches, etc. Sigh. We wear our masks, wash our hands frequently, I don't know what to say. Everywhere I go, everyone is mask free, and pretty much acting like it never existed. Perfect. Thanks unvaccinated assholes. Here we are. Please folks. I beg you, do your reading. Get vaccinated. WEAR YOUR DAMN MASKS! Stay home if you are feeling unwell stay home! As was pointed out the first time around, entire families DO NOT NEED TO SHOP TOGETHER!
 
 
Sigh. I don't know what the next few days or weeks will be like, but I will probably take a few days or perhaps a week off from posting anywhere, so I will post my autumn leaves in one large post at a later time. Love autumn while it is here. Those little leaves travel a whole year to reach us, they are good for the soul, so enjoy whatever leaves are left.
 
I will try to update soon, even if it is just an emoji.

READ UP FOLKS, PRETTY SOON WE WILL BE ON OUR OWN.

UPDATE

 My body is not very happy right now. 12/15/24




 

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #82

 

“Autumn"

Again the wind
flakes gold-leaf from the trees
and the painting darkens—
as if a thousand penitents
kissed an icon
till it thinned
back to bare wood,
without diminishment."
 
~Sara Addison Allen
The Paris ReviewIssue 109,
  Winter 1988”
 

 

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #81


 “Perhaps the most important lesson I have learned is to embrace the small pleasures and turn them into lasting memories.” 
 
 ~Elizabeth Chadwick
 

 

Monday, December 09, 2024

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #79

 

“Autumn...the grace in letting dead things fall.” 

~Darnell Lamont Walkermont Walker



Saturday, December 07, 2024

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #77


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

~Laura Jaworski 
 

 

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #75 And #76

 
 
 
 “Autumn burned
Deep red and amber,
An inferno of intense
Terrifying beauty,
Devouring feverishly
Everything in
Her path.” 

~L.S.
 
 
Okay, so life gets busy. I'll share about that in the next couple days. I have some good reasons, it is the holiday season after all. Anyway, here are the two leaves I owe my Ellipsis, with more to come. Something beautiful to look forward to, as autumn kisses the earth goodnight for another year. I am already grieving it, as I do every year about this time. But autumn doesn't ever go quietly. Look at the vibrancy of a life well lived!





Tuesday, December 03, 2024

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #73

 

“Rest your eyes well before September
 because with all its colours autumn is coming to visit them!”
 
~Mehmet Murat ildan 
 

 

Sunday, December 01, 2024

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #71

 

The Passing
 by Stewart Stafford

In the gorgeous death of Autumn,
Tree-bowed alms for the wind,
Sacrificing eye-catching features,
Now primed for Winter, skinned.

Organic shaded palaces looted,
Shells of once-shimmering things,
Shorn of their prettified plumage,
Until born again the following Spring.

Everything is recycled in Nature,
Dead leaves compost the soil,
Turning wheel of rampant Summer,
No memories in the humid broil.
 

 

Sunday, December 24, 2023

Grandpa Got Runover By A Reindeer...

 

I kid you not, it's real.
Sigh.




Dean Martin - "A Marshmallow World" - LIVE - CHRISTMAS

 
 
 
 “Music produces a kind of pleasure
 which human nature cannot do without.” 
 
~Confucius,
 
“I want to be remembered as a damn good entertainer, nothing spectacular. A good entertainer who made people enjoy themselves and made them laugh a little. I want them to think “He was a nice guy. He did pretty good and we loved him".” 

~Dean Martin
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Christmas Eve Variety Special: A Film to Enjoy Together

 
 
Your Hit Parade!
 
 “My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern,
 is very simple: loving others.
 Come to think of it, why do we have to wait
 for Christmas to do that?” 

~Bob Hope 
 
Stay Tuned... There are more holiday posts to come, including this year's Elf Yourself video of Hendrix, Dylan and Joey! Some be sure to come back, there will be new postings throughout the day! I hope they bring you a smile!
 

 

Friday, December 22, 2023

How I Spent My Last Day Of Autumn 2023 (Part One)

 

"I pray this winter will be gentle and kind,
 a season of rest from the wheel of the mind."
 
 ~John Geddes
 
Autumn is gone, I accept that, I am not bargaining anything, but how can I not notice the last remaining beauty of a season so full of character? Watching starlings fly in and out of a tree, with only a handful of leaves left, can be an absolutely transcendent way to spend a break from the nonsense of the world, and I did just that on Thursday. I knew it wouldn't take long to find the last moments of Autumn. Winter was not in everything yet. Autumn was all around me, starting with those awesome starlings. Lodi can be a charming place sometimes. Okay, so Lodi isn't completely fucking worthless. Shrug.
 



Thursday, December 21, 2023

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #91

 
“He'd grown unused to woods like this. He'd become accustomed to the Northwest, evergreen and shaded dark. Here he was surrounded by soft leaves, not needles; leaves that carried their deaths secretly inside them, that already heard the whispers of Autumn.
 Roots and branches that knew things.”
 
~Michael Montoure,
 
Here is the final numbered leaf on my Autumn leaf project for 2023! I am still collecting beautiful leaves as I come across them, because for me, in my fantasies, it's always Autumn. Oh my, monster cakelets, pumpkins, days with rain and sunshine at the same time, the color of the sun, the annual migration along the Pacific Flyway, the smells of pies and roast turkey and Autumn Boiled Ham. The Harvest Moon. The holiday shows and movies, while cuddling on the couch. The Macy's parade. When Harry Met Sally and St Elmo's Fire. My warm cozy sweaters. Sweet Potatoes! So many little things like tiny candy bars and the silly Christmas elves I have on my Christmas tree... it's all Autumn, and I will miss it like an old love, because it is, one of the great loves of my life! 
 
Every single leaf I collect, represents a day, no a moment, that Autumn gave me. The leaves I post are very special to me. I hope you enjoy them. This is probably the last year I will be posting them to Twitter X. It has become a depressingly abusive place to be, and sharing my photography on that site just feels wrong. I think that Facebook will be the new home for my photography. We'll see. Anyway, it's was a really pretty year for leaves, lots of red, as if Autumn was singing a power ballad this year! 
 
I am forever grateful!
 

 

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #90

 
“When the autumn meets the tranquillity, 
there you can see the King of the Sceneries!”
 
~Mehmet Murat ildan 
 

 

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet Energy

 


“It is December, and nobody asked if I was ready.” 

~Sarah Kay 
 
That is the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. I kinda have to laugh, because I about drove myself crazy trying to find one, along Desmond road, just a couple years ago! Now I know about 4 or five places where they can be found pretty easily, including along the canal next to my condo! It's such a cutie. If you have read some of my previous postings about this bird there isn't much more to say, except I admire it's energy. It's a silly little ball that never stops moving! I don't think I have ever heard it's voice, maybe I will one day, until then I will just admire them, and keep trying to get a good photo. They are a challenge!

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Beauty On A Dreay December Day

 

“I love the freedom of my wings. I love the empty space above the ground. I rejoice in my freedom. Freedom is my religion.
 Peace is my God. Love is my worship.”
 
~Banani Ray,
 
It was misty yesterday, but we went to the forebay anyway because there is a lot of rain predicted for this week, and that was our best chance to go. The Atmospheric River is opening. But the birds did not let me down. Present mostly were gulls, Ring-necked ducks and the gorgeous Snowy Egret, my favorite bird! It was the best way to spend an otherwise dreary December day.
 

 

 

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #89

 

“I am captivated by the beautiful colors of Fall,
Show me,show me, Show me All!
Orange, yellow, purple, reddish-brown,
And the rustling of the leaves as they fall to the ground.” 

~Charmaine J. Forde 
 
Purple is a color of Autumn. In fact, it might just be my favorite color of Autumn. If I could, I would surround my condo with trees that explode with color in Autumn, and at least every other one would display some kind of purple color. I have yellow roses on my porch, and this last summer I added a pot of French lavender. They look very nice together. Perhaps next spring I will add another plant like a Pumpkin Patch rose or maybe a purple Hydrangea. It makes me really happy to think about it. Adding a little extra beauty around me is a healthy step forward. And hopefully it will make others smile as well! Maybe I will look for plants and container shrubs that show their color all year. He... that's a GRAND IDEA!


Monday, December 18, 2023

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #88

 
“Come, little leaves," said the Wind one day, "Come to the meadows with me and play. Put on your dresses of red and gold; For Summer is past, and the days grow cold.” 

~George Cooper