Autumn Movies... St. Elmo's Fire

Bill To Jules...

"Jules, y'know, honey... this isn't real. You know what it is? It's St. Elmo's Fire. Electric flashes of light that appear in dark skies out of nowhere. Sailors would guide entire journeys by it, but the joke was on them... There wasn't even a St. Elmo. They made it up. They made it up because they thought they needed it to keep them going when times got tough, just like you're making up all of this. we're all going through this. It's our time on the edge."

~St. Elmo's Fire

I have favorite movies that I like to watch in autumn, and this movie is at the top of the list! It's from 1985, a time when I was going though a lot. My mother's health was failing. My job was a bitch at times, and I eventually quit, after calling my bitch of a boss, a bitch. I had some friends to lean on, but they couldn't fix everything. Like being, by today's standard no big deal, but at that time it was a huge deal, especially after quitting my job, suddenly, as an act of standing up for myself, but really, it was not a good time to make an impulse decision.

The job was interesting but demanding, no real room for advancement, and there was a lot of abuse by the boss I mentioned. Despite I had a chance to grow by moving on from a job that was a brick wall, I crashed from exhaustion and depression. I became the character of Jules. I hadn't seen the movie before my own life crashing, so I didn't know it would affect me.

St. Elmo's Fire is a coming of age movie for adults, right out of collage, who find themselves saying to themselves, "what now?". I needed that message. This is a really good movie, and it features an autumn background. It's an autumn movie. If you haven't seen it, watch it. I think you'll love it for the romances, the passion, and the reality of life that I believe is probably  relevant even today, 40 years later!

Note: Rob Lowe received a Razzie award for worst supporting actor. I couldn't disagree more. His character, Billy Hixx, was actually the heart of the story, and Lowe played him perfectly. 

Her Happiest Season

 "Autumn was her happiest season. There was an expectancy about it's sounds and shapes: the distant thunk pomp of leather and young bodies on the practice field near her house made her think of bands and cold Coca-Cola, parched peanuts and the sight of people's breath in the air. There was even something to look forward to when school started... renewals of old feuds and friendships, weeks of learning again what one half forgot in the long summer. Fall was hot... supper time with everything to eat one missed in the morning when too sleepy to enjoy it."

~Harper Lee

Go Set A Watchman

Look at that sunset. I took that photo, as the sun was setting over the Altamont Pass, at the end of a very good day. It was December 5th, a beautiful day, that had all of the gifts autumn could possibly provide. We were on our way home from the Bay Area, after a long day out, and I was tired from the day, which is a good thing, but I just had to have that sunset. Spending a day with the camera makes me happy, but spending the day with the camera, and returning home tired from it, makes me ecstatic! It means I saw beauty, and even if I only manage to refill my file only a bit, I am usually happy, because it means I took my time and really put thought into my surroundings. 

 

You would think that would be a given... right? Well, yes and no. Sometimes I just can't break through my own relentless head noise. And sometimes the ambient light looks one way in the car, and another way at curbside or even deep on the rice patties, depending on if I am photographing some curbside art, autumn leaves, or Sandhill Cranes. Photography is never the same twice. You can prep in a general sense, but I can't count the number of times I have packed all my requirement. Light meters. Tripods. Cameras. Headed for a location, only to find that I had to fight some unforeseen circumstance, be it natural or man-made. Self made catastrophes happen too, like forgetting my small wallet that contains extra SD cards. That's happened an embarrassing amount of times. That's the difference between an amateur and pro, I guess. But, even with all of the work, mental and physical, it's worth it, no matter what season we are in!

Every year I photograph somewhere between 100 and 500 autumn leaves. About 91 become, Leaves Of The Day, and the remaining are used in other projects, while some are never featured anywhere. Last year was a really difficult year for my project. I couldn't find much color during autumn, in fact most of it took place during winter of this year. It was such a difficult year I wasn't sure we would get through it, but we did, and I was glad I had saved some leaves back in case. This year was a much different story, and I have decided that beginning this year, I will share as many of the unused leaves as possible, because like the featured ones, they are what the life of the year was about. California lost so many trees in 2020, to wildfires, or drought conditions. Climate Change is affecting and diminishing the  color and life of California. It's painful to watch. I don't know what the state will look like in 10 years. It may look more like autumn in upstate New York, which would be amazing, or it could be treeless, I don't know, but one thing is for sure, the state is going through big changes, so the history of autumn 2020 means a lot to me. It is my happiest season.

The Leaves Of Autumn 2020

And Today's Featured Leaf Of The Day

#87

~Carly

Stockton, California

December 17th 2020

 

Long, Slow, Passionate Kisses

"Autumn is the eternal corrective. It is ripeness and color and a time of maturity; but it is also breadth, and depth and distance. What man can stand with autumn on a hilltop and fail to see the span of his world and the meaning of the rolling hills that reach to the far horizon?"

-Hal Borland

Last night, I thought it might be nice to try and capture a nice photograph of San Francisco, as seen from up here in the East Bay hills. All the buildings on the Embarcadero are decorated for the holiday season, and it is absolutely gorgeous, however, it wasn't to be. That old San Francisco fog was determined to blot out the view of the city, so I decided instead to focus on one of the last sunsets of November. I aimed my camera toward the sun, and watched as it slowly and passionately kissed the sky goodnight. :) Kisses like that should always be slow... don't you think? :)

Then just a little while later...

-OndineMonet
"The Kiss Goodnight"
Berkeley, California
November 29, 2007
Early Evening

They Don't Write 'Um Like That Anymore

"Love is a thing, well, its a kind of quicksand: The more you are in it, the deeper you sink. And when it hits you, you've just got to fall."

-UB40

It's been a long time since I posted a historic love letter entry, but with Valentine's Day less than a week away, I thought it would be a good time. These letters never stop amazing me, such passion and emotion by their authors. Sigh. :) As I read through them earlier this evening, I found I couldn't choose just one, so here are three rather brief, yet sensual letters to lose yourself in... Enjoy!

From Edith Wharton to W. Morton Fullterton
June 8th, 1908

There would have been the making of an accomplished flirt in me, because my lucidity shows me each move of the game - but that, in the same instant, a reaction of contempt makes me sweep all the counters off the board and cry out - "Take them all - I don't want to win - I want to lose everything in you!"


From Charlotte Bronte to Professor Constantin Heger
January 8th, 1845
Note: There is no evidence that her love for the professor was returned.

Monsieur...

The poor have not need of much to sustain them - they ask only for the crumbs that fall from the rich man's table. But if they refused the crumbs they die of hunger. Nor do I, either, need much affection from those I love. I should not know what to do with a friendship entire and complete - I am not used to it. But you showed me of yours a little interest, when I was your pupil in Brussels, and I hold on to the maintenance of that little interest - I hold on to it as I would hold on to life.

From Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) To Olivia Langdon, his future wife.
May 12th, 1869

Out of the depths of my happy heart, wells a great tide of love and prayer for the priceless treasure that is confided to my life-long keeping.

You cannot see it's tangible waves as they flow towards you, darling, but in these lines you will hear, as it were, the distant beating of the surf.


Like I said... Sigh! :)

"To write a good love letter, you ought to begin without knowing what you mean to say, and to finish without knowing what you have written."

-Jean Jacques Rousseau

-OndineMonet
"Love"
San Mateo, California
Spring, 2006
Afternoon