Autumn Leaf Of The Day #25/Red Flag Warnings For All

 

"The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly changes

 from the summer cottons into its winter wools."

 

 ~Henry Beston

 

It has been hot. Really hot. Relentlessly hot, all summer, and now well into October, and it will be 78 degrees later today. Yes, that's hot for October! STOP IT ALREADY! There will be no appreciable rain or cool weather for at least the next month. Sigh. We, in the San Joaquin Valley, are under a fire watch for the next few days, with the possibility of rolling blackouts. Here's a question, that I guess history will have to answer, are either of the two candidates planning to address Climate Change in any serious way? One of them caves to big oil, the other hasn't said much. Are we all on our own as far as the change in the ecosystem goes? It feels like its late to help us. Is it everything almost over anyway? Why isn't the conversation taking place in any real way? Just look where Climate Change falls on the list of issues for voters this year...

Why are we still not having more meaningful conversations

 about this issue?

Ho-Hum

 

“Au revoir, mon ami.” 

~Susan Kay,

 Phantom 

 

Okay, it's the last day of February and I have not yet lit a candle, but as I compose this post there are still about 6 hours left in the day so I am not finished with that. After dinner I will go to the new room and try my best. Ugh. It will happen. It will.

 

 

The October Elements

"In the winter of my life I fell in love with autumn, and you.

 The leaves will change and fall but your

 love is here to stay, at least for just another day."

~Maria Koszler

It has been extremely windy the last few days, and it makes me fear that the leaves will be falling before I have a chance to get really started with my annual leaf project. As of Halloween, we will only be at the midpoint of autumn, and it feels like I have not done much this year. All the leaves in the Sierra peaked early, like about a month before they usually do, then the Santa Ana winds threatened to make fire season even worse than it already is, as if it hasn't caused enough damage this year in, Sonoma County, it just doesn't get enough. But still, I have been happy with my results. The truth is, there will never been enough autumn to play in, and it leaves me melancholy, but it's okay, because I am already looking forward to October 1st, 2020. Wind and Fire in October, in California, is becoming the things of which nightmares are made.

And now...

#36 Leaf of The Day

October 28th 2019

Ione, California

Nikon

~Mood: Okay

~Me  :)

The Goodnight Kiss Of Summer

"Enchantment and fulfillment were on the gold and garnet horizon... autumn's breath, a dormant dream reawakened, a yearning nearly satiated, a tender thank you with a brush of the lips, and a connection as fingers touch and go hand in hand."

~Donna Lynn Hope

The air was a little better yesterday, but I stayed in all the same. It wasn't clear enough to keep my eyes from burning, so I reconciled myself to do laundry, read and play a while on Twitter. It wasn't a bad day, but it wasn't an autumn love story either. I feel like this last month of autumn is being terribly cheated of the burst of life it has in it's heart. Fate. So, in absence of the ability to do any measurable new photography, so I chose a photo, or two from the early archives of this autumn. September 24th to be exact. As you can see, summer had kissed autumn hello, pretty early, and it seemed like summer couldn't wait for it's old friend to take over, so it could finally lay down and sleep. 

When the air clears, and the sun is shining again, all will be right with the world. And I have a feeling, that while autumn was looked away in the fire's prison, it will only emerge brighter and stronger than ever, ready to once again fill my soul with the one thing that makes me feel alive, the decline of light and the seductive scent of autumn and the harvest of another year.

#60 Leaf Of The Day

November 20th 2018

Photographed October 17th 2018

Pacific Grove, California

~Mood: Quiet

~Me

 

At The Haggin: The History Of The Stockton Fire Department

"History, Stephen said,

 is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake."

~James Joyce

 ~Ulysses

My heart continues to go out to the town of Paradise, California, as they continue to battle the raging inferno consuming the community. Almost, if not all, has been lost. It is a distinct possibility that the town of Paradise will never recover. Just cease to be a destination in Butte County, California, and that thought truly breaks my heart, because that area has a special place in my heart, especially this time of year! It is simply breathtaking in autumn, and I have been at the edge of the county many times, while traveling into Plumas, County, where I have done most of my autumn landscapes in recent years.

I don't think about fire much. It just happens to be one of my top three phobias, so avoid it as much as possible. Spiders are phobias number one and two, but fire, well, ever since I was about three years old, has been the thing I fear most. It all started one night in the middle of the summer, in 1965, when my three year old self, watched my father, and his carpool friends, save our neighbors two doors down. When he and his coworkers turned the corner onto our street, the house was already fully engulfed. Dad was the first one to run into the house. 

My sister, who was a good bit older than me, held me in her arms as we watched our dad, save a whole house full of people, a whole family, one by one. I was terrified that he wouldn't come out. Or worse, would my father come out on fire? Thankfully, I never had to see that, and there was no loss of life, but I can imagine all those children who lived in the town of Paradise, and how hard this experience was and will be for them, the rest of their lives. I am praying that the community can heal, and rebuild.

 I wish life didn't have to include times like this, I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but I am so glad that I can visit museums, like the Haggin, here in Stockton, and begin to learn not just about my new hometown, but it's rich history, and especially about it's early disaster response. Alan and I had a fascinating look, during our recent visit to the Haggin, and I will be sharing the amazing bits of other historical interests we learned about, but where else could I start this series, but with a little bit about the Stockton Fire Department's early history!

Can you believe that was the way fires were telegraphed in Stockton until 1979?! 

That was the one piece of history I could have lived without seeing, but it seems the town of Stockton, did pretty good with keeping the town and surrounding rural area safe! 

 #55 Leaf Of The Day

November 15th, 2018

Photographed October 14th, 2018

Sacramento, California

~Mood: Okay

~Me

 

Fire In The Sky

Fire wants to burn

Water wants to flow

Air wants to rise

Earth wants to bind

Chaos want to devour

Cal wants to live.

~Cassandra Clare

 The Iron Trial

The light you see, is the reflection of the sun, bouncing off the tower of Preston Castle, in Ione, California. The sun has changed into an eerie red color, that I have photographed only a handful of times, mostly when there have been out of control wildfires, like we are experiencing right now in California, but honestly, this is the absolute worst I have ever seen it!

Alan and I live in Stockton, which is about 180 miles from the biggest fire, the Camp Fire, in Paradise, California. It has already been determined that this fire is the deadliest fire in California history! And the smoke has turned the air quality in the state into an unhealthy mess. But that isn't what hurts me. The loss of life does.  The lost of dreams. And all that's coming from is disparagement from out JACKASS of a president. 

History will record his words.

 I won't darken my blog quoting him!

Gallery

November 11th 2018

Communities of Galt

Ione

Lodi

Stockton

The Moon, turned blood red, by the smoke!

From 180 miles away!

Stockton, California

Ione, California

Ione, California

 Stockton, California

 #52 Leaf Of The Day

November 12th 2018

Photographed October 14th 2018

Cull Canyon, California

Samsung

~Mood: Sad

~Me

Beauty Unrivaled! A Love Story Of Napa and Sonoma Counties

"Things don't ever stay the same.

 Natural beginnings come to natural or unnatural ends."

~Kristin Cashore

Fire

My heart is completely broken, as I write this post. The devastating wildfires currently burning in the North Bay area are taking homes, and businesses with a deep demonic passion! When all is said and done, it will be the biggest, costliest fire in California history! It has ruined lives and ruined dreams. It has destroyed some of the most beautiful counties in California, the towns that produce the delicious Napa Valley wines and so much more. I can't say enough about the natural beauty I have witnessed in those vineyards, of each leaf of autumn, and each grape ripening on the vine! Also the fun of the bits of whimsy, around Santa Rosa, in particular, when I photographed the Snoopy "Joe Cool" Summer in 2007.

 Every single theme you can think of went into those sculptures, and Alan and I took a day and chased them around Santa Rosa, enjoying the day, and giggling as we found each one on the map. That's Santa Rosa. That's Napa, County, and we have had amazing fun in Sonoma County as well. It's a little something for everyone up there. Winery's. Dairies. Vineyards. Art. The whole area is in my heart, and my heart is completely broken right now. The one good piece of information I can hold onto right now is that as of the time of this post the Charles M. Schulz Museum is untouched. A little good news, that I am so relieved about in the midst of this terrible tragedy!

I send the people of the North Bay my LOVE and Friendship!

#12 Leaf Of The Day

September 28th, 2017

Stockton, Ca 

Snoopy "Joe Cool"

 

Mood: Sad

~Me 

 

Where Theres Smoke, Theres Probably Someone Throwing Water On A Fire

"Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?

~George Carlin

 


Yesterday, Monday, in a mad fit of "I CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE" I put new batteries, and new SD cards in my cameras, got into my little blue car and went for a ride. The "IT" I was running from was overwhelming, mind-numbing, boredom! Oh, and the sound of my immature neighbor "Donny" throwing things about on his patio, because he was angry at himself for alienating yet another neighbor by letting his dog BARK and throw himself against his fence, 2 days in a row! At 5:45 A.M.! The neighbor in question has been a really good neighbor, is quiet and minds his own business, which is all I really require in a neighbor, so why Donny decided to be a jerk, yet again, is beyond me. Donny is simply... and we will focus on the word... simple... here. Simple.

The other thing eating at me is the media blitz that President Obama is engaging in, in his run up to that war with Syria he is aching for! TV yesterday offered very little for the weary viewer. Daytime TV is embarrassing to admit to watching. The news is just more of the same. I turned on both CNN and MSMBC and heard pretty much the same questions being asked about the Syrian situation, so off I went. I got myself a nice big order of FROYO and headed for the hills! Mt Diablo to be exact! Why Mt Diablo you ask? Well, because it was on fire! According to my handy dandy text alert messages on my phone contraption, the fire which had begun on Sunday, had doubled overnight! There was also a text message from Alan, who said he saw the fire from the San Francisco peninsula last night! Mt. Diablo is one of the higher peaks in the Bay Area, but to be able to see the flames from that far away, meant it had to be kinda spectacular!

Okay... off I went.

Here is one of the best shots I got. It really doesn't do much to show the gravity of the fire. I was closer to the western slope of Mt. Diablo. But it gives you some idea of how close I got. There is an amazing album over at the ABC/KGO website that really demonstrates the fire properly. If it is still burning later today, I might try to get a better angle on things. You never know. Today is probably going to be just as irritating as yesterday. Honestly! Sheesh! I can't do anything to force my neighbor Donny to grow his ass up and stop annoying people. And I can't do anything about President Obama and his inability to lead. So I am left hoping that Donny will just go to work tomorrow, rather than piddle around the property, acting like a jerk. As for Obama, well, later today he will be addressing the nation, hopefully to say there has been a legitimate deal brokered by Russia, to disarm Assad of his chemical weapons. Fingers Crossed.

GOD DAMN IT! Did you ever think you would see RUSSIA coming in to save the day with rationality?

Still, yesterday wasn't a total loss. I came home to the news of George Zimmerman being "detained" in regards to a domestic violence issue regarding his soon to be ex-wife Shellie, and her family. Poor George (I say sarcastically) anyone want to start a DIVORCE DEFENSE FUND? No?

I didn't think so!


Mood: Sarcastic

~Me :)

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day ~ 84 Is That A Cannonball?

 


"There may be a great fire in our soul, yet no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passers by see only a wisp of smoke."


-Vincent Van Gogh


I think I have shared in the past about my fear of fire. I would like to say that since that time I have worked on it, but no, haven't done a thing about it. I am working on my fear of flying, by booking Alan and I on a nifty little plane ride, featuring an areal tour of the San Francisco bay. Alan is still amazed that I did that, but I have come to believe that it makes NO sense sitting here, waiting to get old, and die. I mean, if nothing else has been learned in my 50 years, it's that there is NO guarantees. I could be sitting right here, posting a blog entry, and have a meteor hit me. Or perhaps someone in a 747 takes a poopy, flushes it, and by some stupid random  series of events, the poop is inadvertently dropped out the bottom of the plane, landing directly on top of my head. Or I could maybe be hit by a wayward cannonball. Hey, just a few months ago, there was an incident, with a wayward cannonball, that took place here in the Bay Area. No one was hit by it, thank goodness, but it had all the potential for great disaster. I am kinda sure that if I had been living in that neighborhood, that cannonball would have found me.


I really do.


I don't know if I need to address my fear of fire at this point in my life. I have been living with it for 47 years. Although I suppose if I did make the effort to fix it, I could go to my grave in perfect mental health, and those at my funeral could say... "Well, at least she worked on that stupid fear of fire she had, but isn't it ironic she died doing what she loved... making triple decker S'mores?" I think the attendees at my funeral would be both proud of me, and also have an interesting story to share with friends. So that would be a good thing... right? See, I could get over my fear of fire not for myself, but for my friends. Yeah. That sounds like a plan. But on the other hand, whose to say my future demise couldn't come from some other equally interesting event. Like perhaps... dying from... oh say... constipation... which... don't laugh... has been known to happen. If that happened, then my friends could always say, "She had some problems, but she was doing what she loved to do, she was working on her shit."


Hmmmm. I am going to think about thinking about getting over my fear of fire a little bit longer... no reason to act hastily.


Right?

Chronic Constipation Killed Elvis Presley




Mythbusters Cannonball Hits Dublin Home, Minivan




~Me :)

Let's see what my pal JR is up to, shall we?

JR
http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/08/apadf6-82.html

Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot #93: Fire

"Love is the fire of life, it consumes or purifies."


-Unknown








EMPS #93: Fire. NOW CLOSED!
BBQ anyone? LOL. This week's assignment is all about FIRE! FIRE engines, FIREplaces, bonFIRES, FIREtrucks, FIRE fighters, you get the idea... FIRE!

Extra Credit: Show me a FIREman! :)


**PLEASE READ**
This Monday Photo Shoot assignment closes next Sunday evening at 9:00 PM ET. Please submit your entries by that time by uploading your photo to your blog, journal or website, and then comeback here with the link that goes back to your entry. The link you leave must be to an entry which is specific to this week's assignment. A general link to your site will not work, and HYPERLINKS ARE NOT ACCEPTED. Also, please include a link in your entry to this photos shoot assignment so that other folks can find us and participate with us. The more the merrier... right? ;)

Linking List for EMPS # 92: State Flowers 05/31/10

NOW CLOSED!

1. Carolyn

2. Freda

3. Jama

4. Karen

5. Greg

6. Hip Chick

7. Nesa

Thanks for playing, see you next Monday with an all new assignment!

-Carly

Fire By The Water

From For Ellipsis

"And where two raging fires meet together, they do consume the thing that feeds their fury."

-William Shakespeare

While in Half Moon Bay, a couple weeks ago, Alan and I came across a slow, controlled burn along the side of the road near the town of Pescadero. It was burning between HWY 1 and the cliffs that overlook the Pacific Ocean. I am afraid of fire, even under the most controlled circumstances, but on that day I just had to stop and snap off some photos. I thought the smoke, with the ocean behind it, made for some interesting shadows. Funny how even the things that scare me the most, become less frightening when I have the camera with me. I take it everywhere, but I am never more grateful for it, then when I am frightened. Strange how brave I feel with just a little help. :)

From For Ellipsis

-Carly

Out Of The Ashes

"Each separate dying ember wrought it's ghost upon the floor."

-Edgar Allen Poe

It doesn't matter how many times we wash our cars here in the Bay Area, within a few hours they will once again be covered in tiny particles of fallen ash from the many wildfires currently burning in Northern California. It is of course not just the cars that tell the eerie tale, the sky is a thick smoky pink color, and there is nowhere to go to escape the smell of burning grass. Even Elvis seems particularly dusty, and just yesterday, as I was sitting in front of Lucky's, while waiting for Alan to finish picking up a few items for dinner, I saw this little bee land on the windshield of my car, and it too seemed to have a fine matted dusting of ash on it. And as it sat, clinging to the glass, it seemed to have trouble breathing.

I have mentioned before about a terrifying experience I had as a child with a house fire that happened in the neighborhood where I grew up. It haunts me to this day, but I admit that I have done very little over the years to deal with that fear. Lately, however, I have been paying pretty close attention to all the dry grass here in the hills, and wondering if I would be able to deal fire, if one should happen in my area. Would I freeze-up in fear? Would I run and keep running? Would I rise to the occasion? Would I hold up under the fear and memories?

I don't really know, but somehow I can't help but think that maybe I am getting a hint from above about learning to overcome my fear of fire. I am going to do some photographs of the affect the fires are having on my immediate environment, such as the ash which has settled on my roses, and that eerie glow in the sky that I mentioned earlier. Maybe do a little research to make sure the area around my cottage is as safe as possible. I can learn something from all this I think, at least I hope. We'll see. :( Isn't it strange that we learn our greatest lessons from the things that hurt and scare us the most? Just once I would like to laugh my ass off and learn something profound at the same time!

Lightening Sparks 800 plus California Fires (ABC Affiliate KGO)

-OndineMonet
"Out Of The Ashes"
Berkeley, California
June 24th, 2008
Afternoon

Weekend Assignment #216: Fire!

"Remember in elementary school you were told that in case of fire you have to line up quietly in a single file, from smallest to tallest? What is the logic in that? What, do tall people burn slower?"

-Warren Hutcherson

Weekend Assignment# 216: Tell us a story or anecdote that involves fire in some way. It can be a forest fire, a house fire, a campfire, logs in the fireplace, or even a lit match, a tale of comfort or destruction. Whatever comes to mind, if it's interesting and fire plays a role, we want to read about it!

Extra Credit: Is the area where you live subject to dangerous wildfires?

Karen Funk Blocher, of the blog, Outpost Mavarin

In September of 2007, two fires were burning here in the Bay Area, that kept the skies lit up for days. The Lick fire and the Acre Coe Park fire. The smoke was heavy, turning the sky an eerie shade of orange, as in the above photo, and there was that smell... I hate the smell of smoke. It brings back the terror I felt as a child, watching my father run in and out of a neighbor's house, which had become fully engulfed in flames.

It happened a little while after midnight, on hot night in the summer of 1965. I was only 3 at the time, but you never forget seeing the only father you have, run into a scene so scary. As a result of what I saw that night, nearly 43 years ago, I have experienced a life long paralysing fear of fire. I have never even lit a match. If I want to put some romantic candles out... Alan lights them for us. Maybe someday I will conquer my fear, then again, maybe not. The Berkeley firestorm of 1991 was another experience with fire I would rather not speak about. It served as reminder in my adulthood that fire commands a respect like no other fear can. Enough said.

Extra Credit: Yes, California is prone to forest fires, and this year we are at a higher alert then in most years, due to the lack of runoff from the Sierra. :(

Note: The photo in this entry hasn't been retouched. That's how it looked outside at 6:10 PM on September 6th, 2007. Click the photo to view it in a larger size.

-OndineMonet
"The Glow"
September 6th, 2007
Early Evening

The Glow

"The grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere, the dew is never dried all at once; a shower is forever falling, gloaming on the sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls."

-John Muir

I am really tired, it was a long day, so I am making this a brief entry. I did get a chance to take some photos of the sky, with the effects of the Moonlight fire and the Lick fire, still hanging heavily in the air. The fire has now grown to 27,000 acres, and there are over 1,800 firefighters attempting to bring it under control. They still have a long way to go. I was able to get a photograph of how it appeared here in Berkeley at about 7:30, Thursday morning, and another shot as it appeared at about 6:15 in the evening, just north of the Monterey Peninsula . As you can see, the sky is a deep red glow, and the air is thick and gray. Sigh. And to think, this all started from an illegal fire ignited in a barrel. :( It brings back a lot of memories of the Oakland/Berkeley firestorm of 1991.



"The sunset caught me, turned the brush to copper, set the clouds to one great roof of flame above the earth."

-Elizabeth Coatsworth

27,000 Acre Coe Park Fire Shows No Sign Of Slowing (CBS - KPIX)

-OndineMonet
"The Glow"
Berkeley, California
September 6, 2007
7:30 AM