Goodbye/Hello

"It seems everything sleeps in winter,

 but it's really a time of renewal and reflection."

~Elizabeth Camden

Until The Dawn

The Autumn Equinox ends today,

 and the Winter Solstice begins!

While I took both of these photos during autumn of this year, the one I chose to welcome autumn with, was taken during the last third of the season, on November 25th, and as you can see, the beautiful egret already has it's Winter plumage on! It's such a lovely bird, that I thought it would be a lovely, quiet way to welcome in Winter 2017! I will miss autumn, and mourn it for a while, and then I will find some new subjects, hopefully, that will see me through the necessary seasons until it comes around again next year! I am sure it will bring a lot of beauty, and life, and I just can't wait to see what it brings!

#21 Leaf Of The Day

December 21st 2017

Cull Canyon Park

Mood: Happy

~Me

 

On The Last Full Day Of Autumn 2017...

"Autumn that year painted the countrysie

 in vivid shades of scarlet, saffron and russet, 

and the days were clear and crisp under harvest skies."

~Sharon Kay Penman

Time And Chance

It's the last full day of autumn, 2017.

 And as such, it's not about me, it's all about the leaves...

"The gold and scarlet leaves that littered the countryside in great drifts whispered and chuckled among themselves, or took experimental runs from place to place, rolling like color hoops among the trees. It was as if they were practicing something, preparing for something, and they would discuss it excitedly in rusty voices as they crowded round the tree trunks."

~Gerald Durrell

My Family And Other Animals

I could have sat under that autumn tree forever!

#20 Leaf Of The Day

December 20th 2017

Redwood Road, Castro Valley

Mood: Happy But Quiet

~Me :)  

The Sweetest Season

"Wind warns November's done with.

 The blown leaves make bat-shapes, web-singed and furious."

~Sylvia Plath 

I was in Quincy, in late October, and I was losing the light quickly. I had to hurry to get all the pictures I could, and play in those beautiful leaves as long as possible! Truth is, there would never be long enough of any autumn day for my liking. The seasons of summer and autumn always seemed backwards to me. Summer gets the long hot days, when you can't think straight from the oppression of heat, and the only real color is green.

What was God thinking, putting this overwhelmingly beautiful season in front of us, and not giving us enough time to see it at our leisure? I am basically in the autumn of life, and I want to cling to it. I am smarter now, then at any other time of my life, and wouldn't go back to stupid spring for anything. Autumn is wisest season, but by the time one realizes it, it's cold and dark, and winter comes, and time goes deeply quiet. I am going to photograph autumn, for as many years I have left!

Never, ever, waste an autumn day, 

no matter what the weather is, or how much sun is left.  

It's all a gift. 

 #3 Leaf Of The Day

December 3rd 2017

Placerville, California

Mood: Quiet

~Me

 

Dark Horses

"A frightening possibility occured to him: maybe sometimes things didn't just go wrong and then stop; maybe sometimes they just kept going wronger and wronger until everything was totally fucked."

~Stephen King

"IT"

Last week, while we were in Quincy, enjoying the incredible beauty of the leaves, and sheer quaintness of the small town in Plumas County, in the middle of the stunning beauty, suddenly more than one thing stuck out to me as being quite ominous. The dark horse on their street lights, and the movie playing at what seemed to be their only movie theater, Stephen King's "IT." 

In past years, I found the street lights, of Quincy, kind of charming, but this year there was a certain feeling down in my bones, something feeding my fears and dread so deep, that I was thankful for the darkness, and loss of light to photograph the leaves we drove three hours to see. Last week, Quincy had a different feel. It was less quaint, and definitely more Derry, Maine, the town that Pennywise terrorized every 30 years.

Please don't get me wrong, the people of Quincy are quite lovely! They depend a great deal on leaf peepers and avid shutterbugs, such as myself, for a good deal of their tourist income. No, it was something in me, not them or really even the town. I don't know what to call it. Fear. Dread. Maybe even my good old friend depression, but something inside of me felt a cold chill when I looked at that horse, and then noticed through it, that IT would be playing all weekend.

I have been feeling those very feelings since before last year's election, with brief moments of respite, but I felt the same feelings again on Friday when I read about Donna Brazile's book regarding Hillary Clinton having rigged the primary against Bernie Sanders. And then when it was given validity by Elizabeth Warren, someone who I had considered a hero, but now I no longer feel I can trust. A Brazile's book has been widely debunked over this weekend, but I fear that some damage has been to the chances of two upcoming gubernatorial elections taking place next Tuesday in Virginia and New Jersey. 

How much darker will this country grow? Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? And how much longer until we find out who and what Pennywise actually is? Most of the time, I think of Donald Trump as Pennywise, because of his strong penchant for fear mongering. I know I now live in constant fear that the west coast will be wiped off the map, in the middle of the night by a nuclear missile from North Korea, but maybe Donald Trump isn't Putin's end game. Maybe it' something so unspeakable, I don't want to even speculate here, be carry around in my own conscienceness, and that I try to put out of my head whenever it yells... BEEP BEEP CARLY!

I don't know. 

God, how I wish I did.

One thing I do know, Donald Trump blocked Stephen King on Twitter some months back, so for now I know he is who I will listen to about defeating the fear, so that it's possible to defeat the clown. Alan and I are going next week to see the reboot of IT and maybe I will pick up some new tips, or maybe it's still the 1990 version, which was a pure masterpiece, that still holds the key of standing up to what scares us the most. I guess I will find out!

Quincy Scrapbook

October 28th, 2017

 #5 Leaf Of The Day

November 5th, 2017

Quincy, California

Mood:Weary

~Me

Autumn Dwellings

Knight's Ferry, California

October 26th, 2017

"NOVEMBER, Noun, The Eleventh Twelfth Of A Weariness."

~Ambrose Bierce

Devil's Dictionary

I am beginning to not hate spider webs, as long as they aren't on me, or too close by. This one was a few feet from me, on the day I photographed it, and it had a beautiful appeal to it, with it's jewel and earth tones, shining with the warm autumn sun resting on it, but it was quite large, therefore I was reluctant to get too close to it. I was sad about that, because in a creative way I would have appreciated seeing the spider, or spiders, that worked so hard on it! It was clearly old in parts but there was also what appeared to be brand new silk, I think this had been a multi-family dwelling. It was decorated nicely, in most of the colors I gravitate to this time of year, so whoever lived there, they clearly have a talent for decorating!

 

I enlarged the photo somewhat, and did some sharpening, and finally spotted one tiny occupant of this autumn house.

 Do you see the spider?

#4 Leaf Of The Day

October 28th, 2017

Quincy, California

  

Mood: Creative

~Me :)

 

The Day After Halloween

"There is October in every November and there is November in ever December! All seasons melted in each other's life."

~Mehmet Murat ildan

November is here. My favorite month, October, has gone to sleep for another year, and I miss it already! But it will be back in less than a year, so I have it to look forward to, so I am okay about that, but when October left, it also took the first part of Autumn with it. Yes, my favorite season is officially half over, and there is only about 6 weeks left to enjoy gathering leaves for my Autumn Leaf Project, and appreciate the slant of light that only shines during this time of year, and the slight chill in the air, on bright sunny days! While I love the colder weather, there is just something perfect about a bright sunny day, with just enough cool in it, to enjoy the warmth of my favorite sweater, and my favorite warm throw. 

I bet you've guessed by now, that I live for this time of year, and it is really the only time I feel alive! It's like the earth has a smile on it's face, as it drifts off into a waking dream state for a year that we will never see again. I was so happy when 2016 finally died, I never want to see another year like it. So many artists passed away, and the 2016 election was... well... nothing short of devastating, but that is all in the past, and in a couple months we will move on to another year, and who knows what that will bring? I have decided to not deal with it right now. I choose to focus on one day at a time, and find beauty wherever it is. Whimsy too. Do I sound optimistic yet? 

The Whimsy Of Halloween 2017

 Punky 2017

Punky Enjoying Dinner Before Duty

 Punky On Duty Scaring Goblins Away!

The Candy 2017

The Beauty Of The Last Week Of October 2017

#1 Leaf Of The Day

November 1st 2017

Quincy, California

Mood: Happy
~Me :)  

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 :)