Northern Harrier And Autumn Leaf Of The Day #46

 

"At no other time than in autumn does the earth let itself be inhaled in one smell, the ripe earth, in a smell that is in now way inferior to the smell of the sea, bitter where it borders on taste, and more honey t sweet where you feel it touching the first sounds. Containing depth within itself, darkness, something of the grave almost."

 

~Rainer-Maria Rilko

Letter On Cezanne

 

Click To Enlarge

Sometimes, when I am out taking pictures, I wonder what some of the artists I have admired most like, Cezanne or Monet, would think of the beautiful autumn scenes I am currently enjoying. I am sure they enjoyed as much their scenery, as I do, Monet had quite a beautiful garden, but I just mean right now in time when we are standing on the precipice of losing so much. The drought, no doubt caused by Global warming, has inflicted a lot of damage to the ecosystem of California. I mentioned a while back about the Monarch butterflies all but having disappeared from Pacific Grove, and right now, Yolo seems to have a lot fewer birds than last year at this time. The hawks and vultures were out and about the other day, but there were very few ducks, geese or even Ibis to be seen! So, I made the best of it. I got a better picture of a Long-billed Curlew then I had on file, and of this fella too, the Northern Harrier. I have been seeing more and more of it. I just saw one on Desmond road the day before I visited Yolo, and while there I saw another one. That's more than I saw all of last year, which is a shame, because what a work of art it is!

 

 

 

 

~Me

Cobbler Crust

 

"It looked like the world was covered

 in a cobbler crust of brown sugar and cinnamon."

 

~Sarah Addison

First Frost

 

I know I push autumn to start early every year, but as I looked around at the YOLO Bypass Wildlife refuge yesterday, it really seemed that autumn had crossed the seasonal threshold sooner than usual. Not that I am complaining, mind you, I was simply pleasantly surprised. I always enjoy the arrival of my favorite season, but global warming has me terrified, and I know that what I saw yesterday was not a matter of the seasons having a bit of rivalry, but rather a matter of the earth saying "fuck you humans, you're causing my early demise, so here is a visual." Yolo was dry, and devoid of plants and birds. I only noticed one dragonfly, and I was there for over four hours! Everything is changing, rapidly, in the valley. My usual go-tos for birding opportunities along the delta were all dried up early this year. It's not going to take long before California won't be California anymore. 

 That all being said, we had a good time visiting the refuge. There were some lovely residents still keeping a watchful eye until their friends return. The Pacific Flyway returns in about a month, and hopefully we will see some natural correction in the weather soon too.

 

~Me

August 30th, 2022

 

 

 

Living On The Coast Of A Passive Ocean

"Because God is never cruel, there is a reason for all things. We must know the pain of loss; because if we never knew it, we would have no compassion for others, and we would become monsters of self-regard, creatures of unalloyed self-interest. The terrible pain of loss teaches humility to our prideful kind, has the power to soften uncaring hearts, to make a better person of a good one."

~Dean Koontz, The Darkest Evening Of The Year

A lot has happened in the last 24 hours. Not to me, I am fine, but to my good friend and neighbor, and of course to the people of Oklahoma City and Moore Oklahoma. By now you most of the details of what occurred in Oklahoma, and that it's going to be a long night. Needless to say I am in prayer for them, and I am sending as many loving thoughts as I can their way. I hope in some small way they will feel our collective prayers, and more good news, than bad, will come with the morning light.

My friend and neighbor, Opal, has been through a devastating time in the last 5 weeks, having lost 6 members of her family, including her beloved kitty, and my personal buddy Sebastiani. I shall miss our talks. He loved to come by and chatter with me, and seemed perfectly happy with my occasional..."What? Really? And then what did you do?" He was a tuxedo like Elvis, so it made the property a much nicer place having another tux to care about. He was my friend. So it's hard to know that as Opal's friend and neighbor, there isn't much we can do to help.

 I am making her a flower arrangement this evening, to take by tomorrow, and I have a card for her, which assures her the phone is always on if she needs us, but it doesn't feel like much help. You know how it is... if you can take the pain from someone you care about, and hold it for them till they catch their breath... you would. But you can't. So all you can do is just be there if they need you, and we will be.

It's so strange, I didn't think I would find the perfect quote for this post from Dean Koontz, but I really believe what he wrote captures the feeling of the situations. Devastation if an unfortunate balance to the times of joy and prosperity. It's life. But knowing it, doesn't make it easier, just more understandable. Understandable. What a word. What a world. And a new day begins at midnight. I, for one, count myself lucky that I live where I do, on the coast of a passive ocean. Earthquakes? They don't cross my mind often, it's just a part of living where I do.

It's life.

And I thank God for it daily.

Mood: Quiet

~Me :)

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 169~ Natural Black And White + Shades Of Gray

"The choice in politics isn't usually between black and white. It's between two horrible shades of gray."

~Lord Thorneycroft

Yesterday I posted my series of color photographs from my annual autumn jaunt to Pacific Grove, and today I am sharing my favorite ones from the total work. The Black & White set. I enjoy looking for lighting opportunities that allow for monochromatic or nearly monochromatic capture. B/W is my favorite, but I love natural scenes that depict a range of a single color. It's not always easy to find what I am looking for, but when the weather forecast mentioned partly cloudy conditions, I tried to get to Pacific Grove before the low fog burned off completely. It was all in the timing, and cooperation from the butterflies of course. They were kind to me yesterday! I love the silhouette of the butterflies, and the leaves. Do I see a butterfly? Or is that a hummingbird? There are some interesting shapes in Black and White.



Shades of gray wherever I go
The more I find out the less I know
Black and White is how it should be
But shades of gray are the colors I see.

~Billy Joel

 

Shades and Silhouettes capture my imagination, unless I am seeing shadiness or mere silhouettes in politics. It's not a new thing you say? Well, you are right it isn't. But I know that in my lifetime it has never been as bad as it is right now. As I type this, a major storm is baring down on the Eastern seaboard. There are folks I love and care about in it's path. Friends who blog along side me and folks I blogged with in the old AOL Journal days. It's weighing heavy on me. The weather folks are predicting unprecedented occurrences, and they are dubbing the storm... "Frankenstorm." Are the experts calling it that to ease nerves, or is that exactly what it is? But putting the frivolous question of true characterization aside, lets ask the most pertinent question...

Why wasn't the subject of Global Warming, or Climate Change for the faint of heart, mentioned during the 3 presidential and 1 vice presidential debate? It's unconscionable!

We are on our own.

Good Luck.

~Me

Note: I am off on a LONG photo jaunt today. I will be getting home very late, so I post tomorrow's entry later than usual, but stay tuned, I will be there.

Today's Link...

JR
http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/10/apadf6-168.html

UberAnts

"As a thinker, and planner, the ant is the equal of any savage race of men."

-Mark Twain

Meet the Uber-Ants! They first showed up in our little cottage, high in the Bay Area hills, in July of last year. Strange invader. We tried 14 different products in our attempts to eradicate them from our midst. No luck. It was an expensive project, I wish I had a dime for every ant stake we purchased, but in truth the dime spent last year, isn't worth a penny this year, but that's another story. Let's just talk about ANTS. Ok?

As I went from Home Depot to OSH to Longs, to Rite-Aid, looking for earth friendly poison, lol, I began to hold a dialog with the different helpful individuals working in those various stores. Each told me that last year was a big year for ANT spray, and traps. They even commiserated with me about their own negative adventures with the strange breed of ant, which also seems to be nocturnal! No one had any good ideas for what to do. Right about January, I was ready to give up and maybe concede that perhaps our little house was on a never before heard of Uber-ANT hill, proportions of which just might make either a great book for Stephen King, or nifty new movie for M.Night Shyamalan, when they suddenly got a big burst of winter, and went away. I was hoping it was to the afterlife, but I think it might have only been to a bear-like hibernation.

This new ant could be a product of Global Warming, or maybe a new type of Global Terrorism inflicted on us by our own government! LOL. I am not much for conspiracy theories, although I do have an open mind, and will listen for the case being made, but in this case, I think I believe that it could very well be a situation caused by, the lesser evil of, Global Warming. Stupid, weird stuff is happening everyday. Earthquakes in strange places, Iowa is under water, New Orleans was very nearly erased from the earth, we don't just have fires anymore, we have fire storms, new species are being discovered as the rain forest diminishes, and according to the back of my Haagen Dazs cup, the honey bees are disappearing and no one knows why!

So is it my fault I am being invaded with Uber-Ants? Was I a bad earthling and didn't recycle as much as I should have? Is this my payback for whatever shortcut or laziness I have taken or committed in the Global War on Global Warming?Is it maybe just a case of dumb luck? Who knows? Only the UberAnt knows for sure! Just in case, I think I will spend this weekend recycling some plastics and paper, and maybe sprinkle some cinnamon around, as it is a natural ant repellent. Ants... can't live with um' but somehow we must!

Ok, so tell me, what do you do about ANTS? Do you have ANTS now? What are some of your favorite earth friendly tips and tricks for doing away with unwanted household pests? Speak. Help a girl out.

;)

-OndineMonet

"UberAnt Morning"
Berkeley, California
June 21, 2008
Morning