Impeachment In The Autumn

"A president cannot defend a nation

 if he is not held accountable to it's laws."

~DaShanne Stokes

Wednesday, December 18th, 2019

Donald John Trump is now only the third American president to be impeached. A welcome relief that our system of government is still holding firm, and a sad reality that we are still so as a vulnerable nation. So, what comes next? The Senate will take up the articles of Impeachment soon. When? That's up to Speaker Pelosi. It's up in the air. In the short term, it is now history that rather than take this solemn moment and reflect on it's meaning, Donald John Trump chose to instead to insult the memory of Rep. John Dingle, and insult his window, who is now a member of congress herself. I guess that should surprise no one. But at the same time, he continues to surprise me in his abilities to cause hurt and destruction in every gentle area of life we have left. Basic kindness and decency have seemed so far away with his daily self pitting Twitter bursts. How can any American with an ounce of patriotism support a man so devoid of love for anyone but himself? That's rhetorical, of course. Anyway, as this Autumn comes to a close. this is just one more memory of a season that seamed indifferent. Maybe next autumn will feel more like shining through.

 #88 Leaf Of The Day

December 19th 2019

Nevada City, California

Nikon

~Mood: Quiet

~Me 

For Autumn Art

 #87 Leaf Of The Day

December 18th 2019

Nevada City, California

Nikon

 

"For art, she thumbtacked hundreds of autumn leaves

 on one of the cracked walls."

~Eleyne-Mari Sharp

Inn Lak'ech

Hmmm... is this quote about me? Because hundreds of leaves, thumbtacked to a wall is exactly what I call art! One day I hope to be able to turn some of my leaf portraits into framed photos or perhaps a photo book, but not right now. I am too unsure of the knickknacks I already have, let alone creating more things to take up space. Besides, anytime I find myself needing a little autumn, all I have to do is log into Google web albums, and suddenly I am walking on a beautiful carpet of autumn leaves, and all is right with the world again!

~Mood: Quiet
~Me:  

The Last Of The Falling Leaves

"The smell of burning firewood and the molding of organic, earthly substances remind her of jumping wildly into the enormous leaf piles of autumns past and she suddenly wished that it was appropriate for someone her age to do such a thing."

Abby Slovin

Letters In Cardboard Boxes

September 24th 2014

Its a strange thing, because this year's autumn was so dull in comparison to most other years, but I seemed to have saved more leaves to a reserve file than in other autumns. I don't want to just let them go, I put some work into searching for them. So, I guess that means more last minute individual beauties to admire, which is kind of nice I think. I have also decided, for the first time, to add all remaining leaves, not featured as an individual, Leaf Of The Day, into the full gallery with a post Autumn 2019 G distinction. I decided to do this, not just because I had so many beautiful leaves left over, but because I had a lot of leaves in previous years that I should have found a way to include, but didn't. That was a shame. Every year has a unique beauty to hold onto, and I know one day I will maybe look back at 2019 and see it differently, but right now, everything just seems frustrating and dull. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but I do know that 2014 was one of my best year's for finding autumn beauty, and I didn't think I could find anything more in that archived folder to love, but the other day I did! That kinda tells me that I will be seeing 2019 differently one day. 

At least I hope I will. 

 

And today's Leaf Of The Day

#86 Leaf Of The Day

December 17th 2019

Cull Canyon, Ca

LG Stylo

~Mood: Happy
~Me   :)

The Autumn Migration Of The Cedar Waxwing

"In autumn, the entire backyard became a mass of lollipop yellow leaves, so bright they lit up the night like daylight. Birds nesting in the trees would get confused because they couldn't tell what time of day it was, and they would stay awake for days until they dropped out of the branches with exhaustion."

~Sarah Addison Allen

The Peach Keeper

I found a new bird in my yard last night. Meet the Cedar Waxwing! They are tiny colorful birds, with white and peach colors on the head and breast, and dark gray and almost purple on the head and back, and red at the tip of the winds, but a splash of bright yellow at the very tips of their short tails. Absolutely gorgeous! They had a short, soft chirp, which I found rather pleasing.They were nesting in the tree top in my next door neighbors yard, so I wasn't able to get as close as I wanted to. My photos DO NOT DO IT JUSTICE! So, cross your fingers for me, that I will get some more practice in over the next few days. They are definitely migrating, as they already have their winter plumage on. Autumn is getting sleepy, we had a cold storm this past weekend, my beautiful leaves are getting more and more difficult to find, and there are new types of birds, stopping by to say hello, on their way to a warm bird resort for the winter. My heart is breaking. But my camera is happily imagining how Winter will inspire!

 

Read about this amazing bird here... Cedar Waxwing 

 (Audubon Guide to North American Birds)

#78 Leaf Of The Day

December 9th 2019

Nevada City, California

Nikon

 ~Mood: Happy

~Me   :)

November Shadows

"The canopy of the woods was spread out beneath me and

 it looked as if autumn had taken a great torch to the trees,

 burnishing them gold, red and bronze."

~Kate Morton

The Distant Hours

 

November is my favorite month to work with shadows. The sun seems to be at it's harshest, probably because sometimes the cold hasn't quite caught up with autumn, or the date on the calendar. November can be bone chilling or, by contrast, it can make for the last remaining days of shorts weather. On that particular day in November, we were just a little over the halfway point for the month, and it was warm, with almost no breeze. The trees next to the Crocker Museum were full and wild with color, but the afternoon sun was harsh and demanding. I didn't stay long, but while I was there I enjoyed playing with the available light, and was mostly pleased with the results.

Sometimes when you are out with the camera, and enjoying yourself, you feel like you had your best day ever for photography, then when you get home, and upload your work for editing, you feel a lot different, like you just wasted an entire afternoon. There is a lot of pressure to put on ones self when it comes to taking a good photo, and I am admittedly, my own worst critic. That particular day was a mixed bag, I did okay, but  I wish I had done great. I did a self portrait in shadows and while it's not my best, I have an area now to fine tune. A place to grow in the shadows. Background, foregrounds, textures, natural filters. Steven always gave me such good advice for fine tuning things. I miss my friend a lot.

#77 Leaf Of The Day

December 8th 2019

Orinda California

Nikon

~Mood: Happy

~Me   :)

Autumn In Berkeley

"There's something to walking with autumnal thoughts through the evening fog. One likes to compose poems at a time like that."

~Hermann Hesse

Grape leaves! Beautiful, glorious grape leaves! Berkeley, Tilden Park to be exact, has a lovely fence line filled with grape leaves. It is right between the small botanic garden and the Brazil House. It's stunning in October. It has every autumn color in one place. One quiet corner of the park that you would completely miss, if you weren't look for the autumn leaves. It makes me sad that folks could drive through the park and not see all that beauty, living peacefully, in that one magical spot. The best part though? They will be there again next October. And I will be there too, Camera in hand, overwhelming happiness in my heart. And some love too. How could anyone, not love this?

 Photographed October 9th 2019

Tilden Park Botanic Garden

Berkeley, California

 Autumn Leaf Of The Day...

#76 Leaf Of The Day

December 7th 2019

Sacramento, California

Nikon

~Mood: Happy
~Me   :)  

Autumn Reflections In Golden Gate Park

"Looking up, I observed one solitary leaf that remained

 on a spindly branch of an old oak tree. And as winter's frigid winds

 blew against it twisting it this way and that,

 I thought that it was either committed to holding on as long as it could or it was afraid to let go."

~Craig D. Lounsbrough

 It was a beautiful day at the duck pond, in Golden Gate Park, on October 23rd, and the leaves were falling almost constantly. They reminded me of a sky full of stars, but they also reminded me of soggy cereal. Mostly they were just so damn beautiful they made me smile! I really miss Golden Gate Park, we spent a lot of time there when we were in the Bay Area, and I don't think I realized how much it had really meant to me. I don't get to see it as often as I would like to, which makes it all the more special when I do visit I suppose. Lesson learned... never take the places you love for granted, life is very uncertain. I took these photos on Family Day, which means I got to make another wonderful memory, in a place I love, with the guy I love, and that's the best of all worlds.

#76 Leaf Of The Day

December 6th 2019

Grass Valley, California

Nikon

~Mood: Happy

~Me   :)

Black And White In Autumn

Autumn moon

Incantations in the dark river

Winter's ghost walks with covered face

And silver bones wait in all animals

To be bone cloth upon her shoulder

Wait for her happiness in that they are silvers

~Tamara Rendell

  Mystical Tides

I have been looking through my archives, as I usually do at the end of each year, looking for photos I may have passed on posting, or taking ones I did use with a specific thought in mind, and perhaps giving them new life by converting them to black and white or by adding a filter, to bring out a different emotion then when they were previously used or posted. It can be a lot of fun to remember the day I was out with the camera, and do a deeper emotional dive at how I feel about the same day, months later. It's funny how your memory can move a day around, either positively or negatively, once the pressure of actually being in that day is removed. As autumn turns to winter, thoughts change too. I like the leap into darkness, I always have, even though it spells the end of the outrageous color of autumn. The black and white of winter gives my eyes a chance to relax, and return to the almost exquisite pain of waiting for autumn to come back. It's good to have something to long for, something you know is waiting just out of fingertips reach. It encourages to heart to keep beating. There is a purpose to wait for. It's the best way I know to not fall for lies of loneliness.

 Leaf Of The Day

#74 Leaf of The Day

December 5th 2019

Berkeley, California

Nikon

~Mood: Happy

~Me   :)