Autumn Leaf Of The Day #18/Filling Dark Days With Light

 

“The crisp air and vibrant colors of fall

 can fill even the darkest days with light.”

 

~Unknown 

 

Everything is kinda dark right now. From unprecedented storms, to what might very well be the last election in my lifetime. There is a lot to fear, so I am grateful for my leaves and my birds that help my mind feel rested. I miss my Dylan, we used to have long talks about the things that bothered us. He understood me in a way that was comforting and bridged any language barrier. He always could read my emotions.

 

 

Baby It's Cold And Very Dark Outside

"When you walk to the edge of all the light you have and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown, you must believe that one of two things will happen. There will be something solid for you to stand upon, or you will be taught to fly."

~Patrick Overton

The Leaning Tree (Poems)

Things are mighty dark at the moment, but you don't need me to tell you that. With each passing day, I get a little more frightened of what will come out of the Donald Trump presidency. Right now, a week after the election, there is talk of deep infighting behind the scenes, and flagrant betrayal of some who supported Trump from day one! ( cough... Chris Christie ). Christie has an approval rating of just 2% in New Jersey, because, I expect, he became a Trump supporter, almost from day one, and lets not forget that bridge scandal (Bridgegate) which just sent some of his closest staffers to prison!

 As if the whole situation wasn't seedy enough, there is the request of unprecedented power for the grown children of Trump, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner. Kushner seems to be running things behind the scenes, and there is NO love lost between he and Christie, as it was Christie who sent his father away for political corruption. Now, if that's not enough, throw in some awkward use of Donald Trump's political standing for the promotion of their own merchandise, and it's a full blown circus! It's tacky. It's unethical and it's wrong, but there you are ladies and gentlemen! American's ignorantly wanted to shake things up, well done, mission accomplished! 

Baby, it's cold... and very dark... outside. 

For the first time, in a very long time, when I try to look into the future, and see what my life might be like a year from now, I don't see anything. It's just darkness. I don't see next autumn like I usually do. I don't see my birthday or the summer months that I love to complain about. I don't see swimming in the pool. I don't see anything. I just see darkness. I can't picture it. Not at all. If it's depression causing this, it's a different kind of depression than I have ever had before. I have suffered from deep bouts of hopelessness in the past, and eventually maneuvered through, but this feels different somehow. The future is just a cold, dark, silent place. All I can see is tomorrow, but next week isn't there. 

Right now its just...

 one dark day at a time.

For now, each day is about finding the solid ground.

Leaf Of The Day

November 16th 2016

Mood: Quiet

~Me

A Foggy Autumn Morning In Stockton...

"In nature, everything has a job. 

The job of the fog is to beautify further the existing beauty."

~Mehmet Murat ildan

The Central Valley is very foggy during certain times of the year, and yesterday morning was one of the densest since we moved to Stockton! As we drove home from Hayward, at a little after 6:00 AM the fog really began to thicken, as usual, just as we came down from the Altamont Pass, into Tracy. But when we merged onto HWY 5 north, the visibility went down to under a quarter of a mile. I was absolutely thrilled! I love doing photos in the fog, it makes everything take on a much softer tone, and gives everything within it a mysterious, yet gentle vibe. I am going to be doing a lot of photos in the fog this year, hopefully, because I enjoy the challenge, and I like how it makes my photos look. 

We had fog in Berkeley, of course, but it's not the same as in the valley. For one thing, in Berkeley, the fog tends to flow off the bay in ribbons, rather than one big blanket, although it would simply blanket as well, just not as often. Also, the fog in the East Bay seemed to burn off by 10:00 AM, where here in Stockton you might have it around for most if not all day! Again, a happy situation for me, because I want to experiment with autumn light under foggy conditions. I am looking forward to perhaps doing some snow photos in foggy conditions later in the winter, but it's still a consideration, nothing has been decided. All I know is I am happy... the chance to do some photos in the early morning fog made me very happy!

A Foggy Day In Stockton

Leaf Of The Day

December 9th 2015

Mood: Inspired

~Me :)

Autumn Shadows Autumn Light

Autumn In Orinda, California

"No other time (than Autumn) does the earth let itself be inhaled in one smell, the ripe earth; in a smell that is in no way inferior to the smell of the sea, bitter where it borders on taste, 

 and more honey sweet where you feel it touching the first sounds. 

Containing depth within itself, darkness, something of the grave almost."

~Rainer Maria Rilke

Letter On Cezanne

Autumn Happens In California

It Is All About Shadows... And Light

Autumn In Monterey, Ca

Especially At Twilight

Autumn Leaves Fall From The Trees

The Flowers Are Happy To Be Yellow

The Leaves Begin To Turn In The Sierra

Placerville

And On The Road To South Lake Tahoe

And Twilight Along The San Francisco Embarcadero

It's Easy To Believe In Ghosts On A Day Like This In Autumn!

Leaf Of The Day

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Round Robin Challenge: All Natural Colors

"Some people like living in a black and white worlds. Let them stay there. Appreciate all the colors you see in your world though."

~Ashly Lorenzana

RRC: All Natural Colors

I love Karen's choice of, All Natural Colors, for this edition of the Round Robin Challenges! Autumn is my favorite season of year, because of all the natural colors. There is a variety to this time of year like no other! Trees that have bright green leaves as autumn begins, suddenly burst into the leaves so bright and alive with color, just a few weeks later, you can't help but feel in awe of them! Even when the very same leaves finally transition into the deep earth tones of dark purples, browns, deep mustard, and burnt orange, as autumn comes to a close, it just warms me inside, like I have just put on and old favorite sweater! It is the perfect way to prepare for the dark, stark, barren days of winter. But it's not like winter doesn't have it's all natural color as well. That's when I love to get out with the camera, and try to find scenes that have color, but appear black and white naturally, due to lighting. I hope I did a good job here of demonstrating the effect of light on natural color.

All Natural Colors...

Okay, that's my contribution for this assignment of the Round Robin Challenges! Now, go see what the other participants have posted! Just click the link at the top of this post, to be redirected to the official Round Robin Challenge blog! Better yet, please join us! You can find all the information on the blog!

Thanks Karen, for yet another fun challenge!

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

50 Watts

"I travel light. But not at the same speed."

~Jarod Kintz, The Days Of Yay Are Here! Wake Me Up When They're Over.

Dim.

Dim like a burned out light bulb, or dim like a 50 watt bulb?

The question was certainly a poser!

Wait, wait, wait... let me think. Dim like a 50 watt bulb, but you have to understand, if I were one of my really cool, really decorative and trendy purple lamps, well they are actually more of an eggplant color, I would require a 100 watt bulb to work properly. I could take a 50 watt bulb, but there wouldn't be the maximum output of light you would be used to. No. I would cast a much dimmer light. And the light wouldn't go as far into the room. You wouldn't want to read by me, but if you were needing to surf the Interwebs on your laptop computer machine, and you needed a little bit of light to see by, I would probably work out ok.

That's how the conversation went. I was describing what it feels like to experience a case of Fibro-Fog. In case you don't know what that is, it is what those who are diagnosed with Fibromyalgia feel like when they will go to say a word, and something completely different comes out. Like, for example, if I were having a conversation with a friend and they asked what the best utensil for flipping pancakes would be, most people would say a spatula, where I might say a ladle. Even when I am thinking about the word I want to say, and picturing a spatula in my head, somehow, and I have NO idea how, it will come out ladle. But hey, at least I thought of a word on that occasion, sometimes I will be thinking of a word, and again picturing the object in my head, and nothing will come out. No word. Can't do it. Can't think of the word! LOL.

Fun.

Never dull.

Frustrating as HELL!

And yes, I even laugh at it sometimes! LOL. What else can you do? It is what it is. It's all good!

I am much more of a visual person anyway. I will just let my pictures tell the story, in any words the viewer chooses. I like it better that way I think. My photographs tell a much better story than I ever could!

;)

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Is "Head Cold" Capitalized?

"I want to grow a flower for every time someone tells me FUCK YOU." Then I'll go back to that person and pin the flower on their lapel in a gesture of friendship." And while they are looking down on it in astonishment, I'll bunch up my knuckles and punch them in the face."

~Jarod Kintz, I Want To Apply For A Job At Our Country's Largest Funeral Home And The Wear A Suit And Noose To The Job Interview.

As predicted the head cold (should that be capitalized) continues. Also as predicted, or as rather simply stated, I am posting some photos that were originally taken late last month. I am making progress in my illness, meaning I am aiming for my first day out with the camera to be Tuesday, in the afternoon. But as of today, we have crossed over into the pesky time of year when we lose hours. I know that it is only one hour of manipulated time, but to me it seems like hours and hours and hours! As you might guess, I am a HUGE fan of the FALL BACK but not of the SPRING FORWARD! It all seemed to work the way it needed to, so, okay, I got the concept, but then George H.W. Bush's moronic son, W, had to put his slimy hands on things yet again... this time... TIME!

It wasn't bad enough he made our money look stupid?

He had to fuck around with TIME as well?

Apparently... because here we are, setting the clocks ahead, even earlier in the year than we used to once upon a time.

Thanks a lot moron!

Anyway, in celebration of my least favorite day of the year, at least until the longest day of the year, June 21st, I have assembled some lovely poppy photos, which I have transformed into true art, suitable for framing! That's what happens when life gives you slightly blurry poppy photos... you make surreal poppy art suitable for framing!



Mood: Happy... Happy I TELLS YA! :)

~Me :)

Gentle Reminders

"It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart."

~Rainer Maria Rilke

I am enjoying spring. I love all the light colors. The pastels. Strange, I know, I am an autumn girl, and yes those earth tones will always catch my eyes before the soft pinks and amazing greens, but its a feast for the eyes, and one doesn't realize how much spring can be missed, until a gentle reminder warms your chilly bones. And the spring shadows are wonderful as well!

Mood: Content :)

~Me

Looking Back At January 2013

"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are"

~Anias Nin

Did it seem to you like January was NEVER GOING TO END? Or was that just me? It's not like I hate January or anything, I don't, in fact, this January afforded me a lot of time with the cameras. That is never a bad thing. It's just that the month seemed long. I don't know, it's probably that it has 31 days or something, but hey, that fact will make February with 28 days seem like a week. Right? Well, lets aim for that anyway. LOL.

As of this week, we are officially in the middle of winter, and so far is hasn't been super cold winter as winters go. I would really love to see another big blast of winter come rolling through. Something with hard driving rain, or maybe a snow flurry or two. If it doesn't happen in the first part of February, it more than likely won't happen, and I will be stuck with the days not only getting longer, but filled with depressingly bright sunshine.

Sigh. Sunshine is so common, now rain and snow, that is where shadows and and filtered lighting make things really interesting. LOL. Oh well, when I look back at what I accomplished with the camera in January, I am satisfied with what I did. You can't really ask for more than that! Right?











On To February!

:)

Mood: Encouraged

~Me