Jumping Wildly Into The Middle Of Autumn

"Ah, lovely October, as you usher in the season

 that awakens my soul, your awesome beauty compels my spirit to soar like an leaf caught in an autumn breeze

 and my heart to sing like a heavenly choir."

~Peggy Toney Horton 

 "After the keen still days of September, the October sun filled the world with mellow warmth. The maple tree in the front of the doorstep burned like a gigantic red torch. The Oaks along the roadway glowed yellow and bronze. The fields stretched like a carpet of jewels, emerald and topaz and garnet. Everywhere she walked the color shouted and sang around her... In October any wonderful unexpected thing might be possible."

~Elizabeth George Speare

The Witch Of Blackbird Pond

"The smell of burning firewood and molding of organic, earthly substances reminded her 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

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

 

Feel The Mellow Golden Sun

"Squeeze your eyes closed, as tight as you can, and think of all your favorite autumns, crisp and perfect, all bound together like a stack of cards. That is what it is like, the awful, wonderful, brightness of Fairy colors. Try to smell the hard, pale wood sending up sharp, green smoke into the afternoon. To feel the mellow, golden sun on your skin, more gentle and cozier and more golden than even the light of your favorite reading nook at the close of the day."

~Catherynne M. Valente

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland

 In A Ship Of Her Own Making

Sweet, sweet autumn! I woke up this morning to the most beautiful sunshine, the clearest air, and the most lovely twinkle of leaves dancing here and there! It was a day of unbelieveable happiness. It really was. It was a day of decisions and better yet, decision made in confidence and peace! Details aren't really necessary, just know I am okay. I am happy. And autumn is really a season of healing.

I am happy! Alan is happy!

And there is so much more to come of this magical season! 

 Leaf Of The Day

October 20th 2016

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

 

Crossing Bridges When You Get To Them!

"There's always another storm. It's the way the world works. Snowstorms, rainstorms, sandstorms, and firestorms.

 Some are fierce and others are small.

 You have to deal with each one separately, 

but you need to keep an eye on whats brewing for tomorrow."

~Maria V. Snyder

Fire Study 

Plumas County isn't just beautiful because of the amazing autumn leaves, it has some other things that make it stand out from other places in California. Like the amazing bridges! There are ones like the two you see above, and there are really old fashioned ones that the trains cross as they go over the Feather River. There is an amazing one that connects the Feather River Parkway, with the tiny town of Beldon! Its gorgeous! This photo is from the way into the county. The rainstorm was only beginning! As the tiny drops turned into large heavy drops, I decided it was time to head back home. It was so difficult to leave, I love it here so much, but we did. And it was a good thing we left when we did! The wind was blowing really hard by about 4:00 P.M. and it was getting dark!

And then this happened!

Thank goodness we left when we did! That was a fairly large tree that snapped and fell across the road! Luckily there was a PG&E truck coming in the opposite direction, and Alan and the man PG&E worked together to remove the large pieces of tree from the road so we could get through, and then we were on our way! But I can't help but think we dodged a really bad incident the other day. I knew it was going to rain that day, but I didn't know that it was going to rain that hard, or that there would be that much wind! 

Note to self: thoroughly check the weather conditions when going into the foothills! LOL.

I really needed that photo jaunt to take my mind off of my colonoscopy. It takes place tomorrow, the same day as the election! But I will whine about all that in my next post! LOL. Goody, something for you to look forward too... right?   :) I just want to cross that bridge when I get to it, and not a minute before!

Leaf Of The Day

October 18th 2016

 

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

 

Misty October Days

"In Heaven, it is always autumn."

~John Donne

Here, are the last of the stormy photos I did in Plumas County this past weekend! I didn't spend nearly enough time there. It was enchanting in the rain, and I loved every single drop that fell. I didn't even mind the cold, it was a welcome relief from the mind numbing heat that happens in the Central Valley! It was a gift really! So, hopefully I will be able to visit up there again before the end of vacation! I hope so... I love it so much!

 Plumas County Part Two

Quincy, California

Feather River Plumas County

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower"

~Albert Camus

Leaf Of The Day

October 17th 2016

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Plumas County Photo Jaunt 2016

Plumas National Forest

"After the keen still days of September,

 the October sun filled the world with mellow warmth...

 the maple tree in front of the doorstep burned

 like a gigantic red torch.

 The oaks along the roadway glowed yellow and bronze.

 The fields stretched like a carpet of jewels,

 emerald and topaz and garnet.

 Everywhere she walked the color shouted and sang around her...

 In October any wonderful unexpected thing might be possible."

~Elizabeth George Speare

The Witch Of Blackbird Pond 

Plumas... At last!

I have planned to visit Plumas County in recent years, but something always seemed to get in the way, but this year I finally made it back! My last visit was in 2012, and it was amazingly beautiful that year, but yesterday was something completely different! It was a side of autumn that even I haven't seen before, it was breathtaking!

It was really cold, and it was pouring rain, and the wind was blowing hard, but I didn't care! I just immersed myself in my photography, and took it all in like I had never seen, or tasted or felt autumn before. I guess because I hadn't! Autumn leaves are as individual as fingerprints, and as those leaves fall gently to the earth, I know, I will never see them exactly the same again!

The life of a leaf is like that of a butterfly. So brief, their lives are so delicate, and each one is so beautiful in it's uniqueness.The leaf and the butterfly both begin their time on earth so strong, and then after a while they pass away. Quietly. With only a whisper, flutter and then a sigh. And if we are very lucky, we will see one float by on a perfect autumn day! Like yesterday. 

Plumas Gallery 2016

Leaf Of The Day

October 16th 2016

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Road Trip 2015... Chapter One: Plumas!

"Every dreamer knows that it is entirely possible to be homesick for a place you've never been to, perhaps more homesick than for familiar ground."

~Judith Thurman

And finally we come to the point in our vacation adventure for 2015 where we travel. Today, Alan and I are off to Plumas County to do some leaf peeping, and barn quilt hopping! It's kind of a funny coincidence but when we moved to Stockton, it put us just about 3 hours or so away from most of the places we love in California! Pacific Grove and Carmel, Marin County Coast, and Plumas in the Sierra! That's a happy little bit of good fortune I think, and to make it all the nicer the leaves are just about at their deepest color for the season! I am hoping to give the cameras a workout, and myself as well! I think I am looking forward to the ride with Alan as much as the leaves themselves! Spending 12 straight hours in a car is a true test of a friendship... and a marriage... and we always have the best time on these road trips! 

 Chapter One: Plumas! 

A Look Back At Previous Visits To Plumas

2010 & 2012

Leaf Of The Day

October 20th 2015

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

In Every Change...

"In every change, in every fallen leaf there is

 some pain,

 some beauty. 

And that's the way new leave grow."

~Amit Ray

Vacation officially begins on Tuesday morning, our 25th wedding anniversary, and we will be celebrating for the next 3 weeks or so. The day trips are planned, and the cameras are on standby. Plumas will probably be the longest trip in terms of distance and time spent on the road, but this year is simply a must! Not only are the leaves all lit up and ready for photographing, but there is an added feature to visiting Plumas County... the quilt barns! Over 70 barns, throughout the county, will be decorated with different squares of colorful quilt patterns! It's like one big public art project sprinkled all over the county! I can't wait! My cameras will be getting an extra workout this October in Plumas. The leaves, the quilt barns and the Halloween decorations. A true feast for the weary photographer! 

But don't think our vacation is all about the trips here and there, it's also a wonderful chance for Alan and I to get into the kitchen with some delicious, organic ingredients, and cook up a storm! I have been wanting to make some cannoli and some risotto, and I know Alan has a few culinary ideas up his sleeve. And then there is the time we need to spend on the continuing project of unpacking, and getting the house in order... finally! So there will be days when we will just stop. Clean out a box. Paint a wall. Swim in the pool! You know... just enjoy our new home. Wine and fondue. A decadent dessert. Midnight swims. Long autumn naps.

 What more could I ask for? 

Life Is Good!

Leaf Of The Day

October 11th, 2015 

Mood: Excited

~Me :)

Belden

North Fork, Feather River, Belden, California
October 27th 2012

 "Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day."

~Winnie The Pooh

Another series of photos that I didn't have a chance to get to last October, after my visit to Plumas County. This is the Belden Town Bridge, in the town of Belden in Plumas County. It's a small community of about 22 people, which is amazing to me, because the area is absolutely breath taking! Of course the entire county of Plumas is gorgeous! I have only been there in the autumn, but with a little luck I will be able to do some photography there is winter. I need to build a new file of winter scenes, and this seems like it would be a perfect place to visit with my camera, my mittens and lots of time. 

 
Plumas County, October 2009

 
Plumas County, October 2009

 
Plumas County, October 2009

 
Plumas County, October 2009

 I have fallen hopelessly in love with the whole county since I first visited several years ago. It really is the go to place in Northern California for serious leaf peepers such as myself. On my last visit, Alan and I drove into the county from a different route then we had previously, which took us along the river as it weaves it's way through the county. On our first visit we took a route through the hills, so we didn't have a view of much of the river, but the farms and hills were so rich in autumn tones, that I could have stayed a lifetime and never gotten bored. I would have been too busy, editing all the autumn photos I would have taken during that season alone!

 
North Fork, Feather River, Belden California, Plumas County
October 27th, 2012

Plumas County is the place of daydreams!

Happiness!

~Me :) 

Visit the Plumas County Visitor's Bureau website to learn about upcoming events!
Plumas County Visitor's Bureau