The Last Of The Wildflowers

 

"I am going to give you a handful of wildflowers, 

so each petal that falls will remind you that the earth breathes and the moon rises."

~Carolyn Riker

My Love Has Not Forgotten You

It's been hot the last few days, and there is more of it along the way! The wildflowers are all drying out now, there's still roadside sunflowers, but the more delicate ones are definitely on the decline. Despite all that, I came across a small patch of California poppies, and they were so beautiful, they made me smile! I knew this was an opportunity not to be missed!

 Aren't they gorgeous?

Winter? What Winter?

 

"Color doesn't just add something to a certain something. It gives it life."

~Anthony T. Hincks 

We have had a series of winter storms come through the last few days, so the sky has been dark, and the trees are now merely skeletons, but with the few leaves hanging on, there is color that encourages me to keep looking up. This Sumac tree, in Lincoln Center, continues to surprise me with it's will to live on, and not let go of autumn! Winter? What winter? What is this winter you speak of?  *wink*

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #11

 

“For art, she had thumbtacked hundreds of autumn leaves on one of the cracked walls.”

 
~Eleyne-Mari Sharp,

Inn Lak'ech

 

The Rain is falling, as are the beautiful colors of autumn. The smell of damp earth, and the sight of the earth tones of the trees, just about fills me up, but add in wearing my favorite autumn sweater, and the first taste of a big mug of hot chocolate, or a tangy Chi latte, and I am in a dreamland.

 

 Life in autumn. 

 

 

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #42

 

I like best of all autumn, because its leaves are a little yellow, its tone mellower, its colors richer, and it is tinged a little with sorrow and a premonition of death. Its golden richness speaks not of the innocence of spring, nor of the power of summer, but of the mellowness and kindly wisdom of approaching age. It knows the limitations of life and is content. From a knowledge of those limitations and its richness of experience emerges a symphony of colors, richer than all, its green speaking of life and strength, its orange speaking of golden content and its purple of resignation and death." 

 

~Lin Yutang

 

 

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #26/Fallen Leaves

 

"The trees are about to show us how to be

 gracefully strong in the face of change.” 

~Unknown

 

 I will never see enough of autumn. I miss my little autumn leaf.

I love you, Dylan.  

 

Orange On A November Day

“November is usually such a disagreeable month...as if the year had suddenly found out that she was growing old and could do nothing but weep and fret over it. This year is growing old gracefully...just like a stately old lady who knows she can be charming even with gray hair and wrinkles. We've had lovely days and delicious twilights.” 

~L.M. Montgomery,

  Anne of Avonlea

 

The colors of leaves are so beautiful right now, and it has inspired me  to take a real look at each one. Not just each leaf, but each color. It all started with a particularly vibrant rainbow I saw last Saturday. I don't know, maybe it's because daylight hours decrease in autumn, but I can never quite get enough of the way the autumn sun makes everything look. Everything looks so vibrant and full of pure life. I never can fully explain my love for this season, but it begins with colors like this...

 

 

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #3

 

“I hope I can be the autumn leaf, who looked at the sky and lived.

 And when it was time to leave, gracefully it knew life was a gift.”

 

~Dodinsky

 

 So much beauty.

Flames Of Autumn Orange

 

"The Sussex lanes were very lovely in the autumn. Spendthrift gold and glory of the year-end. Earth scents and the sky winds and all the magic of the countryside which is ordained for the healing of the soul."

 

~Monica Baldwin 

 

I don't know what these trees are, but I will definitely be tracking it down before next autumn, because they are gorgeous. Small orange leaves. Stunning. Especially when passing by a full orchard of them. The Central Valley is known for certain crops. Nut trees. Almonds and Walnuts. Fruit. Apricots in particular. I will figure it out. All I know is, I am going to have plenty to research this year, to keep my mind off all the things that would ordinarily worry me. The Audubon Guide to Trees, Western Edition, will definitely be on my list for Santa Claus. 

 

 

 

~Carly

Stockton, California

December 4th 2020

Bird Watching Is A Lot Like Autumn Leaf Peeping

 

"November at it's best...

 with a sort of delightful menace in the air."

 

~Anne Bosworth Greene 

 

There are so many species of birds in the Central Valley, that I could spend my whole life out here with the camera, and not photograph the same bird twice. I wonder which of my albums will contain more individual photos by the end of 2021, my Leaves, or my Birds? It's a very pleasant thing to ponder. Peep.

 

~Carly

Stockton California

November 27th 2020

 

West Lane Bowl (Mid-Century Beauty)

"An autumn garden has a sadness when the sun is not shining."

~Francis Brett Young

Cold Harbour

 In this case, the autumn garden is all the businesses shuttered, waiting for the Covid-19 to finally move on. Unfortunately, it seems like it will be a long time before San Joaquin County is out of the woods. There are so many places all over Stockton, with sad little notes proclaiming they will be back, and there will be better days, but I am not so sure. Trump is doing nothing to help this ugly time pass, in fact, he's reveling in it. Holding big rallies. Not encouraging any social distancing. It's sad. And the regular flu season is now just a heartbeat away. I feel for the businesses suffering.

 

Sorry, I meant to focus on the fact that this building is another example of magnificent mid-century style and architecture. I haven't been able to find much information about it, but apparently it predates 1963. I will try to do some more research to find out what it's story is. In the mean time, there is that amazing color combo of orange and turquoise again. A combination I noticed was also featured in the fabulous new Ryan Murphy series, Ratched. It's also set in Mid-20th Century, in a fictional psychiatric hospital, somewhere near Monterey. Maybe it will be explained within the series, you never know about these things, and it not, it gives me a nice excuse to visit the Monterey Peninsula in my quest.

Leaf Of The Day

~Carly

September 25th 2020

Stockton, California

Reality Of The Same Intensity

"The object of art is not to reproduce reality

 but to create reality of the same intensity."

-Alberto Giacometti

I had been wanting to photograph this old motel for a long time. The first time I spotted it, was five years ago, when I moved to Stockton. I was on the freeway, on my way to my new house, from the motel I had been living in, in Turlock. Man, it was the longest summer in that Turlock motel, waiting for the condo to built, and then when that situation blew up, it was even longer while house hunting, but we eventually found our home and our community. It was scary, but having a brand new canvas of possibilities was good. New sights and sounds. New things to photograph. New histories to learn.Too bad I just wasn't in the right head space to embrace it, but still, that didn't stop me from taking a visual note of that great sign, so that when I was ready, I would know where to go for inspiration.

I edited two versions, color and black/white. Frankly, I am not sure which I like best. The color shows it's original funky mid-century style of not just the lines, but the overuse of that hideous orange color. Funny how folks felt about color back then. Orange and turquoise? And yet I have seen more than one building, from that era, that had that exact color scheme. Stockton is full of it, and for some inexplicable reason, it's growing on me. The black and white is really great because it's like I had to step into an old movie to accomplish the photo. Both are great. Maybe I will leave it up to Twitter to decide.

 Feel free to leave me your thoughts. 

Carly
August 25th 2020
Nikon

Roads

"When I am out and it is autumn, 

my thank you's to the universe seem infinite."

~Darnell Lamont Walker

Last week, Alan and I took a ride to beautiful, Placerville, California. It's not all that far north, but the difference in terrain is quite striking! For instance, Placerville usually gets at least a small amount of snow each year, but I don't think it has ever snowed in Stockton. It's pretty mild there, in terms of weather, but sometimes, however, it turns into a true winter wonderland! I hope to be able to do some winter photos in the area this coming winter, because I really need to broaden my horizons when it comes to my photographs! I did a few winter photos just across the road in the town of Camino, right at the end of the winter, earlier this year, and to my happiness, there were even a few autumn leaves, still hanging from the trees! It always fills me with joy to come across a little bit of autumn, especially in deep winter! It makes waiting for my favorite season to come around again, a little more bearable!

The road to Placerville...

And earlier this year...

March 2nd 2018

Camino, California

#67 Leaf Of The Day

November 27th 2918

Stockton, California Samsung

~Mood: Happy

~Me

 

Memories Of Monday Pumpkins And Roses On Monday

Pastorino's

Monday October 29th 2007

Half Moon Bay, California

"Songs and smells will bring you back to a moment in time more than anything else. It's amazing how much can be conjured with a few notes of a song or a solitary whiff of a room. A song you didn't even pay attention to at the time, a place that you didn't even know had a particular smell."

~Emily Giffin

  Something Borrowed

I came across this photo in my 2007 archives, and decided to post it. I took this picture on Monday, October 29th 2007, and when I look at it, I have to smile, because it had been a very nice day. Alan and I were in Half Moon Bay, at Pastorino's Pumpkin Patch, and everything had an amazing autumn glow to it. Big surprise, in that it was smack dab in the middle of autumn, but it was an absolutely gorgeous day, and the roses were trying really hard to out-beauty the pumpkins! And oh my god... the smell of sweet spicy roses, and fresh pumpkin, and the chilly air, and the sound of children excited for Halloween. Ahhhh... If I close my eyes, I am right back there, and it's as if almost 8 years ago was yesterday!

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

A Little Orange Flower From Summer's Past...

"The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there."

~L.P. Hartley, The Go-Between

If I let myself, I can sit for hours and dwell on all things negative which happened in the past. I think it's called ruminating! But fortunately I learned the fine art of thought stopping, which came by way of some intense therapy because of things that happened in the past. Had it not been for the need of the intense therapy in the first place, I would not have learned to deal with the pain of today. LOL. Go figure, there really is an upside to pain. You really do grow as a person through the experience of pain!

Go pain!

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Orange Gerbera Daisies

Orange Gerbera Dasies
Flowerland
Albany, California
June 25th 2014

"If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies."

~Nadine Stair

I know, I know... summer has just started, there is beauty of all kinds everywhere, and what am I seeing? Oranges, browns, deep greens... you know... autumn colors! LOL. I have a one track mind it seems. I guess for me, all roads lead to autumn. Oh my, how I wish it would hurry up and get here! But on a more summery note, don't these daisies kinda look like a bunch of beautiful, bright orange 4th of July fireworks? :)

Mood: Happy But Impatient

~Me :)

Julia

Julia  (Dryas iulia) (Male)

"Go on, hitch a ride on the back of a butterfly. There's no better way to fly."

~Pat Monahan, Scott Michael Underwood, and James W. Stafford, "Get To Me."

Meet the Julia! Well, actually it's iurlia, Julia is a common misspelling of it's name, but personally, I like the misspelling, so I call it Julia! It's a medium sized, sometimes brightly colored orange butterfly, which every once in a while makes and appearance in the backyard, where it is fond of stopping for a drink of the blossoms on our Meyer Lemon tree. It makes me ridiculously happy to see it flutter through the yard. That little splash of orange, in an otherwise green yard, is a pleasant sight. It is one of the best parts of spring I think. :)



When Alan and I took that aerial tour of the bay last autumn, I got to see the world from a new perspective. I have been in big jet planes, but being in a small plane, closer to the earth, allowed me to imagine what it was like to be my two favorite flying creatures, the Snowy Egret and the butterfly... any butterfly. The Snowy Egret will always be my favorite bird, but I could never choose one type of butterfly to call my favorite! They all equally enchant and fascinate me! They other day,  I followed this Julia around the Conservatory of flowers for close to an hour. Is it possible to stalk a butterfly? LOL.

Mood: Happy :)

~Me :)