A Sci-fi Moon And A Sunset Sky

"Despite what everyone thinks about science fiction, ultimately, at it's best, 

it's about humans beings with human emotions."

~Greg Frasier

Last night, on the Franklin blvd Bridge, was wonderful. I was with my fella, the air was nice with a slight breeze, and the moon was gorgeous! The bats, unfortunately, was another story. Their numbers were lower than last week, and as a result, there were fewer Swainson's hawks. The sky bands that did occur were quite sparse, so the hawks that were there, were able to pick the bats from the sky with ease. That always leaves me with mixed emotions. I guess the hawks need to eat too, but the bats do so much good with eating the mosquitos and no-see-ums, and with pollinating the night blooming flowers. The whole thing had me thinking of what an interesting Sci-fi story it could be, I just wish I had any writing skills. I am a visual person I guess. I have always had ideas for short stories, but somehow I just can't get them from my brain, to the keyboard on my computer.

Late Spring Early Summer

 

"Sunsets prove that no matter what happens, every day can end beautifully."

~Kristen Butler

Here are my photos of a gorgeous sunset. Both taken along Franklin blvd the other night while we were birding and batting. But, is it the past spring sunset photos, or the first summer photos of 2026? Summer hasn't officially started yet, but a couple weeks ago, we celebrated Memorial day, which most folks think of as the unofficial beginning of summer! I guess we are closer to summer than spring. Spring is feeling tired and quiet, while summer is raring to go! Okay, I talked myself into it. These photos represent the first sunset photos in my summer folder! 

There will be more to come!

Bullet Holes

 

"Speaking personally, you can take my gun,

 but you'll take my book when you pry my cold dead fingers off of the binding."

~Stephen King

There is so much beauty at the Cosumnes River Preserve. Nature at it's most beautiful. From the amazing sunsets, to the birding I have done there. I spotted my first ever Bald Eagle soaring over the preserve, it was the most majestic thing I had ever saw. The wildflowers in the spring and the autumn leaves in the Fall, every bit of the best of nature is to be had. Even the Mexican-free tailed bat adds additional joy to just being there, in the moment. So why would anyone be so hollow inside as to shoot up a sign, asking those visiting to not bother the birds? It's sad, and a shame that folks behave in this manner. It's fucking heart breaking. Sometimes I just want to give up, stop stepping out of my condo, but the world is so scary that I need the respite of this amazing place, so I keep calm and carry on. Why does every area of life have to be so exhausting... and deeply depressing?

The Beauty Of The Cosumnes River Preserve

Franklin Boulevard At Desmond Road

 

"There's a sunrise and sunset in every single day. Don't miss so many of them."

 

~Jo Walton

 

I was happy with this photograph. It turned out just the way I imagined it would. Photos don't always do that. It was my intention to show off the gorgeous sunsets we get out here, and the slight eeriness of the scene in front of me. Standing at the corner of two dark roads, with the light nearly gone, and the bridge on Franklin blvd, caused by a storm from 3 years ago, is still closed, it made me realize how beautiful, and so wicked life can be.

 

 I wasn't able to photograph it, but there were 4 barn owls just down the road to the left. We had gone to see the Mexican Free-tailed bat, and after the show they put on, we drove down to Desmond road, to check for birds that tend to arrive in late Summer. While we didn't find any new ones, we were treated to the sound of Canadian geese flying over, a reminder that autumn isn't very far away, and the gorgeous owls, who I had thought might be an urban legend.

 

The bats have seemed less this year, as have the birds, but in batting and birding, these things are all about equal parts timing and luck. I suppose amazing summer sunsets kinda fall into that formula as well. Shrug. All I know is I will be exploring more sunsets this year, because, well, who has time left in life to take them for granted? Don't just love ones right after a rainstorm? The possibilities are endless!

 

 

Sandhill Crane In An Autumn Sunset

 

"It's amazing the places that love will carry you. 

It's astounding to discover just how far you're willing to go".

 

~Jillian Owens

Practical Magic

By Alice Hoffman 

 

 “If a year was tucked inside of a clock,

 then autumn would be the magic hour.”

 

 ~Victoria Erickson

 

 

Our Future, Our Fate

 

"There is no season when such sunny and pleasant spots,

 may be lighted on and produce so pleasant effect

 on the feelings as now in October.

 

~Nathanial Hawthorne

 

I want to think about autumn, but things like this keeps happening...

 

Trump's campaign is trying to throw this "comedian" under the bus, by saying his "humor" does not align with their values, but they vetted him, and they loaded his jokes into the teleprompter, so once again, as far as Trump's little MAGAt posse goes, Trump gets a pass. He had nothing to do with the grotesque jokes made by the comic, and we should all just ignore the fact that each of his surrogates said pretty much everything Trump said was in the same vein as the vileness this guy spewed. It was one racist, misogynistic, lie after another. So make NO MISTAKE, that rally Trump held at Madison Square Garden was a political NAZI rally, not an American political campaign event. They are now saying the quiet part out loud. Nazism is running for president, and it's hidden in a cult of personality. So how do I get in touch with the autumn inside me, when this might be the last free election we spend as Americans.

 

 One week from today will decide our future. Our fate.

 

 

The Seasons Of Love

 

 

“Dusk is just an illusion because the sun is either above the horizon or below it. And that means that day and night are linked in a way that few things are there cannot be one without the other yet they cannot exist at the same time. How would it feel I remember wondering to be always together yet forever apart?”

 
~Nicholas Sparks

  The Notebook

 

Sunset on Desmond road. It was one of the last hot summer nights of summer, and yet the air, the light, the colors all whispered autumn. We were on the way to see one of the last flights of the Mexican Free-tailed bats. Nights like this are bittersweet. The bats are my only summer friend, and I miss them very much when they leave, but look at that sunset, it's got a little autumn influence to it, and I love it, but unfortunately, the bats won't be a part of it soon. I wish we humans could customize our living adventure. Put everything together. Oh well, second thought, every season has amazing gifts, and the longing of love can be a good thing. 

Dance Of The Starbucks Sugar Plum Cheese Danish

 

“Dessert without cheese is like a beauty with only one eye”

 
~Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin 

 

 “Spring is the name of the interval between two autumns, and autumn is the name of the interval between two springs.” 

 
~Wasif Ali Wasif,

   Segue of Spiritual Whispers: Baat Se Baat

 

Yum. That right there is a picture of just one more part of Autumn I look forward to with great passion, the return of Starbucks Sugar Plum Cheese Danish. It's a simple pastry, sweet and creamy, and it's paired with a buttery flaky crust. There is just nothing not to like about it. My former Autumn craving was the, Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bar, but once I tried this bit of loveliness, there was no going back. I discovered the Cranberry Bliss Bar, years ago, and every year it was my tradition, and delight, to pair it with a peppermint hot chocolate, when we went to either Union Square, in San Francisco, or the Holiday Merry-Go-Round in Tilden Park, in Berkeley. It just helped to make everything even more festive. Alas everything changes, right? We moved, fairly suddenly, to Stockton, and we no longer went to the city, or to Tilden Park. A 79 mile trip requires a lot of planning, so visiting could be dicey in the late Autumn and early Winter.

With our new hometown, came new tradition, Christmas eve colds, flu and most recently... Covid-19. But in-between sneezing disasters, came opportunities for holiday shopping, and errands. And what goes great with those things? Starbucks and pastry. So, one rainy autumn day, just past Halloween, and just prior to Thanksgiving, off I went to Trinity Parkway to shop, but one my way I stopped at my nearest bucks, salivating for a Cranberry Bliss Bar. To my disappointment they had none of those, but they did have the Sugar Plum Cheese danish. Huh? Shrug. I agreed to that, because what the hell? Why not? I love cheese danish, and this one has sugar plum whatever on it to make it even more sweeter than it already is! Why not?

OMG... oh my... something very, very evil began on that day, because I began to sing, JOY TO THE WORLD, A DANISH IS BORN... . I kid you not. A new Autumn tradition was born that day, and with it, visiting the absolutely gorgeous Sandhill Crane of Woodbridge road, later in the day, as they return home to their resting place, and taking this delectable snack with me. My hot cocoa has evolved to Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce, and the two together is nothing short of life affirming! Who doesn't need something like that once in a while? I have always had a sweet tooth, which is probably really bad at my age, but they holidays only come around once a year, and Autumn is sacred, so what's a girl to do?

Everything about the two pastries is perfect, however they are both a bit expensive. Shrug. What isn't expensive anymore? if $4 for a cheese danish seems pricey, I found a recipe hack that could make indulging more often reasonable, and of course, it can be customized as you like. You can find the recipe here. I haven't tried it yet, but I hope to soon. I have a few other treats ahead of it, waiting to be made. Hubby wants some chocolate cinnamon biscotti, and I want to make some Cinnamon pecans. Not to mention baked apples and perhaps even a holiday pavlova. I love this time of year! Autumn is the sweetest time of life.

Gorgeous Beyond Description And Autumn Leaf Of The Day #2

“And the sunsets of autumn... are they not gorgeous beyond description? More so than the brightest dreams of poetry?”

 

~Charles Lanman

 

Golden days of autumn, especially when Autumn comes through the door early, like this Autumn has done, leave me in a constant state of daydream life. Drowsy, and at the same time full of energy! I want to run everywhere, and see everything! I tend to forget about silly things, like mosquito bites, and silly people like Donald Trump. All I can do is look for the joys unnoticed. Like knowing that the bird in this photo, is a Black-necked Stilt. And knowing of the happiness he is feeling over having a tasty meal to eat, and a gorgeous sunset to enjoy it by.

 

 Ethereal Autumn moments like these make me feel like a kid again.

Uncanny Witcher In It's Changed Trees And #62

 

"Autumn is a classical music, when it begins, the gravity disappears."

 

~Mehmet Murat ildan 

 

 November ... with uncanny witcher in its changed trees. With murky red sunsets flaming in smoky crimson behind the westering hills. With dear days when the austere woods were beautiful and gracious in a dignified serenity of folded hands and closed eyes ... days full of a fine, pale sunshine that sifted through the late, leafless gold of the juniper trees and glimmered among the grey beeches, lighting up evergreen banks of moss and washing the colonnades of the pines. Days with a high-sprung sky of flawless turquoise. Days when an exquisite melancholy seemed to hang over the landscape and dream about the lake. But days, too, of the wild blackness of great storms, followed by dank, wet, streaming nights when there was witch laughter in the pines and fitful moans among the mainland trees. What cared they? Old Tom had built his roof well, and his chimney drew."

 

L. M. Montgomery

 

November is almost over, but I am already missing it. It has been, well, absolutely stunning! Almost as delicious as October, and I can't even believe just how much I mean that! 

 

~Me

The Last Hours Of Autumn 2020

 

"The autumn twilight turned into deep and early night as they walked. Tristran could smell the distant winter on the air... a mixture of night-mist and crisp darkness and the tang of fallen leaves."

 

~Neil Gaiman

Stardust

 

December 20th 2020

The Last Full Day Of Autumn

 

It was a beautiful way to end autumn 2020. The late afternoon light at both the Woodbridge Ecological Reserve and at the Cosumnes River Preserve, was gorgeous! I will never forget it! 2020 didn't have very many happy moments in it, but this Autumn had more than all the other seasons of 2020 put together! I will always believe that Autumn is just a little bit magical! 

 

 

One Last Sunset But Two More Leaves

"The Harvester was the rustling of autumn leaves,

 there one minute, gone the next."

 

~Jolene Haley

Harrowed

 

The last autumn sunset of 2020. No autumn moved as fast as this one did, and yes, I know, I say that every year, but this one really did! Maybe it was the anticipation for it to get here, or maybe it was because I was distracted by the election, Hell, it might have been because of my new hobby of bird watching, I don't know which, but it went by really fast! Oh well. Goodnight, autumn. Thank you for all the peace of mind you brought me this year. I will be waiting for you!

While it might be the last sunset's of autumn, there will still be one more autumn leaf to be seen. Autumn doesn't officially end until 3:02 am Monday morning, so why short change the season, right autumn?

 

 ~Carly

Stockton, California

December 20th 2020

 

This Autumn's Last Gift

 

"I stood in a clearing among a stand of beech trees, leaves as red as rubies, branches black as jet. It was sunset, and shafts of richly colored sunlight struck through the delicate pillars of the tree trunks, as if though the lancet windows of a cathedral."

 

~Kate Forsyth

Bitter Greens

 

In my sadness, I thought that I would probably never see a sunset again, as beautiful as a sunset from way atop Grizzly Peak in Berkeley, or from an unobstructed view of my beautiful Pacific, from Ocean Beach, in San Francisco, but last night the sky burned with every bit as colorful beauty as I have ever seen in those other two places. And it doesn't hurt my heart to say... I am home now. I have found a new creative love in enjoying the birds at the protected areas along the San Joaquin Delta, and my camera has found purpose. And I even have my beloved Mount Diablo to remind me, San Francisco, and all the places that live in heart, aren't so far away, and are just right on the other side of the mountain waiting for me. If I can see Mount Diablo... I am okay. I am Okay. Better yet... I am in love. Autumn 2020 had one last gift for me. My heart is healed.

 

Woodbridge Ecological Reserve

Lodi, California

December 12th, 2020

~Carly

December 12th 2020

Stockton, California