Yet Another Dragonfly

 

“Fruitful. Lusty. Wild. Revealing. Every day a brilliant reminder of how nothing stays the same, every day an exercise in variability, resilience, and trust.

I love seasons, live for the changing seasons, could not imagine my life without seasons, but, I must admit--at the risk of offending the others-- autumn is my very favorite one.” 

 
~Shellen Lubin 

 

And there's only more dragonflies to come.

 And birds too.

 Just wait!

 There's much more to life then all this despair. 

 

 

Don't Be Rash

 

“Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.” 

 
~Charles Bukowski 

 

Am I the only one who sees the humor in something like this? I was at the hospital the other day, when I saw this and kinda snickered to myself. No one else seemed to be sharing my sense of humor at that particular moment, in fact most walked past me and glanced at me like I was nuts, and I am of course, but I couldn't help it, the 12 year old in me found it endlessly amusing! I suppose when a rash begins on one's body, it would be the rashes entrance into one's life, and, if cured, it would take it's exit! It's the natural flow ... right?

 

 I wish more things, and people knew when to just fuck all the way off!.

 

 

Pardon My Sunflower

 

“Everything takes time. Bees have to move very fast to stay still.”

 

     ~David Foster Wallace,

   Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

 

Pardon me for yet another sunflower photo, but I am off on a little photo adventure today, which means I need to get in bed soon. So, just another little sunflower, in the late summer sun, making friends with a bee.

 

And all is right with the world.

 

 

I Got This

 

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world.

 Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” 

~Rumi 

 

Autumn will be here next week, but throughout the summer I found some wonderful crunchy autumn leaves, as if it had begun on June 21st! This photo was taken in Cull Canyon, in late August. Just a beautiful pile of leaves in all shapes and sizes, colors and degree of life. It was a strange summer. It would seem this autumn will have it's moments. But I have leaves, and Chai lattes, and everything else that heals my heart. Not to mention two kittens who will keep me laughing, and Joey, who never lets me feel unloved. And lets not forget Sylvie, my therapist, who talks me down, and then talks me through it.

 

I got this.

 

 

Song Of Nature

 

“In their previous lives, poets were bats, and thinkers were owls.”

 
~Michael Bassey Johnson,

  Song of a Nature Lover

 

  

The bats of 2025 were beautiful, but that's not a new revelation. If you know me at all, you know I fell hopelessly in love with every single Mexican Free-tailed bat the visits each year. But this year I cherished them even more, as their numbers at the Franklin boulevard Bridge were noticeably fewer. As were the mosquitos. The two go together. It was disappointing and a little scary to witness such a change. In years past, the bridge would be lined with my fellow bat enthusiasts, the kids love it! But between the strangely cool summer we had, and the lack of our bat friends, it was an unusual year for nature in the San Joaquin Valley. I have also noticed less birds here as well! I am obviously not sure whether it is the decline of the ecosystem due to Climate Change, caused by greed and ignorance, or just one of those off years that happens sometimes! I have my suspicions. California has done better than most states in our fight for environmental causes, but we are far from perfect. There is discarded trash everywhere in the valley. Folks throw their old furniture and tires anywhere they think no one will notice. The folks around me just don't care! Stocktonians are dead inside.

 

Speaking of which, while I was working on this post,

 this happened, right outside my bedroom window... 

 

CBS 13 Sacramento

BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG

SIREN, SIREN,SIREN, SIREN, SIREN

FIRETRUCK

 

(Silence)

 

Stockton Police helicopter circling, in a beautiful sky, above my home.

(Falcon One)

 

It's been 2 hours and the police still have the streets closed off.

 

DRAMA. Useless drama.

 

( Sad, Scared, Depressed, Silence) 

 

Man, this post went sideways fast! 

 

Okay, so lets just focus of the beauty, shall we?

 

 

Stay Safe My Friends,

 And Be Grateful For The Beautiful Things In Life.

The Smallest Of The Falcons

 

"A kestrel can and does hover in the dead calm of summer days, when there is not the faintest breath of wind. He will, and does, hover in the still, soft atmosphere of early autumn..."

 

 ~Richard Jefferies

 

This is one of my favorite birds, the American Kestrel. I love it for it's beauty, but just watching how it flies, really draws me in! They soar with such whimsy, and they hover for food with deep precision. They are stunning birds, and in my opinion, not mentioned enough in the arts! Did you know they are the smallest of the falcons?

 

 

Imposter Seasons

 

"If I were a flower…I would be a sunflower. To always follow the sun, turn my back to darkness, stand proud, tall and straight even with my head full of seeds."

~Pam Stewart

It's late summer now, and but there are still some tiny sunflowers to be found along the roads here and there in the San Joaquin Valley. They always make me smile. I want to stop at each spot and take a photo, just so I refer back on cold days of winter, to keep me warm inside. The weather was perfect this summer. Not too hot, if not a little too cool. One night in July, I was actually shivering, while I was batting on the Franklin Bridge. I hardly got bit, there weren't nearly as many mosquitos as in years past. But there were sunflowers, which no matter what, they are always there in summer. That's a good thing, if not, I might not know if spring had ever ended!

Deer Crossing

 

“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” 

~John Muir 

 

While out waiting for bats one evening, on the Franklin Boulevard Bridge, I was enjoying that night's twilight of mild summer temperatures, when I spotted a group of deer wading through the Mokelumne River toward the southern bank, and let me tell you, it was just what I needed to see, when I needed to see it! The Mexican Free-tailed bat is a yearly visitor to the bridge, with numbers that on some years reach as many as 200,000, but for some reason their numbers don't seem to have nearly that many this year! When that happens, the photographer in me has to rely on other things in nature to photograph. Birds, dragonflies, even spiders are some of my favorite subjects, and I do have plenty of those to share, but I had been hoping to see something new to try, and then the chance presented itself. It was one of those magical moments, when the camera was with me, and the camera was charged up, and the camera actually had a memory card in it. You see, I tend to forget all those things from time to time. But on this night it all came together.

 

As I said, it was magic!

 

And there's a lot more to share with you!