Naps In Autumn And Autumn Leaf Of The Day #47

 

"It was the possibility of darkness

 that made the day seem so bright."

 

~Stephen King

 

Autumn colors, they will always make me want to take a nap, on a branch, on a cold day. Sometimes I am downright jealous of the owls, falcons, and even the little perching birds, because to them, they are home, and they are comfortable. Not that I am not comfortable, I most certainly am. This has been a difficult year, but I am okay, and getting
more okay all the time. Doing my version of the bird life is pretty darn good here in the condo. A rainy, cold afternoon, a warm blanket, a cuddly cat, and I am living the autumn bird life. I am on my own branch and I am doing a-okay.

 

~Me

Autumn Naps

"There are no ordinary cats."

~Colette

No one knows how to take a nap, better than my cat Dylan. He has made the midday nap into an art form, and he performs daily. I love his brand of performance art. Just watching him sleep has been known to instantly change my mood from slightly grumpy to contently mellow, with on flick of his tail. Needless to say, he has me completely wrapped around his paw.

It's hopeless, I love him so much!

But he loves me back!

And there is nothing like a cozy, warm nap on a rainy day, with my orange tabby cat.

God, I could become one of those little old ladies with 19 cats so easily.

And I ask you, what could possibly be wrong with that?

:)

Liquid Amber

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Insomnia

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, look to tomorrow, rest this afternoon."

~Charles M. Schulz

Charlie Brown's Little Book of Wisdom

Is there anything better than a late afternoon nap, on a hot summer afternoon? I like to turn up the air conditioning really high, then climb under a bunch of blankets. And I always have my little babies, Hendrix, Dylan and Joey, right next to me. It's wonderful. And I can always find sleep in the afternoon, but somehow, at bedtime, sleep is nowhere to be seen. I know, I know... don't nap in the afternoon, and I will probably be able to sleep when it's time for bed. But I have tried that, and it doesn't work. I guess I just love the night life or something.

Shrug.

Naps are good... naps have their place.

Mood: Sleepy

~Me :)

Beyond The Sea

"This afternoon knows what the morning never suspected."

~Swedish Proverb

I have become quite fond of the light between 3:00 PM and 6:00 PM. In that 3 hour window there is a lot of unique lighting opportunities. And I find that I need to put a little more thought and planning into how colors look different than they would... say... in the early morning hours. I have found that sometimes I simply can't get the end result I am looking for. Maybe because the sun is about to set, so I feel rushed. Or maybe it's simply the way the sun looks when it seems content and sleepy. It's soft and lovely, but all too often I feel like I am missing something if I devote my whole time and attention to achieving what I see as the photograph, rather than seeing, feeling, experiencing and appreciating the scene in front of me for personal reasons. I am not sure. All I know is, at the moment, I am comfortable with doing most of my photography in the afternoon, at least for now, because I am learning new things, about photography, and also about myself personally, insights which I am pretty sure don't exist during the morning hours.

When it comes to photography, I am pleased to say, I never stop learning.

Facing East...
 

Little Known Fact About Me...

I have "Beyond The Sea" by Bobby Darin on all of my play lists.

 

Mood: Reflective

~Me :)

Steven's Feline Friday: Elvis's Fortress Of Solitude

"The cat, having sat upon a hot stove lid, will not sit upon a hot stove lid again. But he won't sit upon a cold stove lid either."

-Mark Twain

Snore

I thought it would be fun to do a Feline Friday this week. :) I haven't had a chance to show you Elvis's favorite place to nap in the yard... underneath an old blue wheelbarrow that came with our little cottage when we moved in six years ago. It's the funniest thing, it's been in the back yard all this time, and yet it seems as if Elvis has just discovered it this summer. He usually asks to go into the yard around 7 AM, and when I let him out he goes on his regular rounds, checking the vegetable garden first, then my flower garden. Sometimes, if he is in a good mood, he will sit and talk to his pal Sebastiani through the fence, but right around 11 AM or so, he will walk over to the far side of the yard to the old blue wheelbarrow, where he settles down for the rest of the afternoon. He's a happy boy. :)

Yawn

Yep... Thats the stuff

If you have a feline friend, you can play along too. Click here to visit Steven's blog, where you can find all the information on how to play.

-OndineMonet
"The Fortress Of Solitude"
Berkeley, California
August, 2007
Afternoon