Autumn Strategies

 

via CBS 10 News

At least the democrats I have voted for, realize there needs to be a more comprehensive effort put forth towards gun violence and the troubles our youths are facing. Now, I just pray that real follow through will happen next. By the way, as of the composing of this post, the shooter or shooters from last Saturday night's violence, have not been found. The FBI and the ATF have offered their help to find those involved. 

It's All About The Autumn Peace

“If, of all the seasons, there is a season in which a person completely forgets himself and constantly watches the magical environment, it is undoubtedly autumn!”

 
~Mehmet Murat ildan 

 

You know it's autumn, a little before the calendar reflects it, when you hear the return of the various species of geese and Sandhill crane flying over. It's the beautiful return of the migrating birds to the San Joaquin Valley, Desmond road in particular. That small road has brought me so much happiness, over the last five years or so. It's about the autumn sun, it's about the turning of the oak trees, it's about the sounds, it's all about the peace.

 

Autumn Leaf Of The Day #25/Red Flag Warnings For All

 

"The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly changes

 from the summer cottons into its winter wools."

 

 ~Henry Beston

 

It has been hot. Really hot. Relentlessly hot, all summer, and now well into October, and it will be 78 degrees later today. Yes, that's hot for October! STOP IT ALREADY! There will be no appreciable rain or cool weather for at least the next month. Sigh. We, in the San Joaquin Valley, are under a fire watch for the next few days, with the possibility of rolling blackouts. Here's a question, that I guess history will have to answer, are either of the two candidates planning to address Climate Change in any serious way? One of them caves to big oil, the other hasn't said much. Are we all on our own as far as the change in the ecosystem goes? It feels like its late to help us. Is it everything almost over anyway? Why isn't the conversation taking place in any real way? Just look where Climate Change falls on the list of issues for voters this year...

Why are we still not having more meaningful conversations

 about this issue?

Sierra Snow

 “Snow falling soundlessly in the middle of the night

 will always fill my heart with sweet clarity” 

~Novala Takemoto,

  Missin' (Novel)

 

I never get tired of looking at the snow on the Sierras. I can stand in the valley, my favorite spots are Woodbridge road, in Lodi, and Desmond road, in Galt, and just marvel at the beauty of the hills covered in the color of snow. Like I said a while back, the San Joaquin Valley isn't home, and it will never be as beautiful or as exciting as San Francisco, but it has some unique beauty that I am really glad I got to see and appreciate in my lifetime.

 

 

Western Meadowlark

 

"Some birds are not meant to be caged, that's all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild. So you let them go, or when you open the cage to feed them they somehow fly out past you. And the part of you that knows it was wrong to imprison them in the first place, rejoices, but still, the place where you live is that much more drab and empty for their departure."

 

~Stephen King

Rita Hayworth And The Shawshank Redemption

 

There has been a lot of happy colors in this year, so I really need to remind myself about how lucky I am. In an attempt to remind myself of all the real joy in my world, I have been tip-toeing through the photographs I have done in the wilds of the San Joaquin Valley thus far. I seemed to have organically done a lot of groups of the birds that were in the greatest numbers, rather than taken a one and and done approach to my photography and bird counts. So, for the next few posts, or so, I will be showcasing these beautiful and vibrant birds. Up first, the gorgeous Western Meadowlark, which I mostly found along Desmond road, in lower Sacramento County. This bird really seemed to love my little red Mini Cooper!

 

 

Autumn Begins... 3:20 PM EDT

 

"But when fall comes, kicking summer out on its treacherous ass as it always does one day sometime after the midpoint of September, it stays awhile like an old friend that you have missed. It settles in the way an old friend will settle into your favorite chair and take out his pipe and light it and then fill the afternoon with stories of places he has been and things he has done since last he saw you."

 

~Stephen King

Salem's Lot

 

The last photograph of summer in the San Joaquin Valley  

 

The Autumn Equinox is here. Finally. Autumn... the great healer of all the fire, pain, exhaustion, and of course, treacherousness of summer. I know I say it every single year, but the summer of 2021 was a season I tried very hard to not turn my back on. If ever a summer smile on it's face and a knife in it's hand, it was this one. We are selling our home, which means it has been emotionally exhausting, but we are nearing the end of that journey, closing is only a matter of days away, and autumn will heal us. It always does. It did in 2015, after the cruelest summer in decades brought us to Stockton, by way of the desolateness of the towns of Patterson and Turlock. The summer of 2015 tried very hard to break us, fortunately, it was also incompetent, because we are still standing.

 

 Last year, autumn relieved the world of Donald John Trump's presidency. Some healing definitely happened, but then a bitter winter came, and with it, the pain of an insurrection. But in the end, autumn and winter joined hands one last time the day of Joe Biden's inauguration. It meant a lot to me to see not just Biden be sworn in, but also that of the first female vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris. This year, all I ask of autumn is to be gentle with me. Help me find my way. I will be saying more about it later, but all I want for the first week of my favorite season is to enjoy our last week, or so, in our house. To love as much as Alan and I can. Love the kids. Love the movies we watch. Love the meals we share. Love. Autumn is here, and it has indeed kicked summer out on it's treacherous ass! 

 

And now, the first autumn leaf of 2021!

 

Sacramento, California

Nikon

 

Country Things

"Country things are the necessary root of our life... and that remains true even of a rootless and tragically urban civilization. To live permanently away from the country is a form of slow death."

~Esther Meynell

Make NO mistake, I am a city girl through and through! I don't care for giant bugs, or spiders, both of which seem to really enjoy the open spaces of life in the country, not to mention their friends the rodents and scavenger birds. It seems like a strange system that all those creatures depend on each other to live. One feeds on the other. I guess that's just life... one thing feeds on another. 

 

It's all part of the food chain.

I try not to think too much about it, but since moving to a relatively rural part of California, one can't help but notice how nature works. I wish I had the courage to photograph those exotic creatures, but I don't and I am skeptical that I will be able to anytime soon, but at the same time, you never really know about these things. Before we left the Bay Area, I had started to come to terms with certain spiders I was encountering in my rose garden. Let's just say... we had an understanding! 

I wouldn't kill her, if she didn't crawl on me when I photographed my flowers! It worked out pretty good for most of one summer, until one day, she was gone. I am pretty sure she became a juicy tidbit for a Blue Jay, that began hanging out in our yard later that summer. I had been scared to death of that spider, but when she was gone I found I truly missed her. It was a strange feeling to miss something I had been so frightened of. 

Anyway, as time goes by, and I acclimate more to my surroundings out here, I see some intriguing opportunities to stretch my photography muscles, on subjects I haven't covered over and over,  like barns, cattle and all things country! There are fruit and vegetable stands everywhere, and its all quite lovely, in it's own way. The San Joaquin delta is quite lovely in places, and it goes on for miles. I am hoping to devote some time on vacation to hunting down little inlets and visiting some surrounding towns.

I spotted the barn, in the photo above, somewhere along Highway 37 between Novato, and Sears Point raceway, which runs along San Pablo Bay. All along that stretch of highway, you can spot some really interesting things, like one moment you are photographing a barn and the next moment you might see an abandoned boat! Which is kinda fun, because I took all these photos while we were driving! When I get the chance to investigate closer, I am sure they will be be more interesting, but still, considering I took them completely by instinct, rather than planned, but I think they capture the imagination, and they inspire me to want to see more! We'll see what comes from a whole world just waiting to be noticed, but I think it will be more barns and boats, and less about the spiders!

Famous last words... right?

And now...

Leaf Of The Day

October 2nd, 2017

Stockton, California

Mood: Hopeful

~Me :)