"A lion does not flinch at the laughter coming from a hyena.
A gorilla does not budge from a banana thrown at it from a monkey.
A nightingale does not stop singing it's beautiful song, at the intrusion of an annoying woodpecker."
~Suzy Kassam
Rise Up And Salute The Sun: The Writings Of Suzy Kassam
The weather was a gentle mixture of sunshine, rain and rainbows. Well, I guess rainbows are more of a weather phenomenon then weather itself, but the point is, we didn't actually get all the apocalypse predicted. The Sierras, saw heavy snow, and the Bay Area was slammed pretty hard, but here in the San Joaquin country, we made it through pretty well! Louis Park was pretty today, that's where I photographed this gorgeous Acorn woodpecker, resting among the last leaves in the park. Birds were easier to find, as you might imagine, but I didn't get anything new, what I did get was beautiful, and it gives me an idea for what to plan for when we begin a new year of birding, on January 1st! There were lots of birders on the roads with us, which was nice, it's always good to see!
“Two sounds of autumn are unmistakable…the hurrying rustle of crisp
leaves blown along the street…by a gusty wind,
and the gabble of a flock
of migrating geese.”
~Hal Borland
I love the sound of the wild birds flying over my condo in the morning. Several species of geese overwinter in the area, as do other migrating birds, and the sound is glorious, but I always know that I will hear from the Canada geese first, as autumn begins. From late august, through the spring, they can be found in the park and Smith canal next to my condo. Its one of the nicest parts about living here, and I will miss it dearly when I leave. But I will always know where to go to see this beauty.
air like cider and a sky blue you could drown in it."
Diana Gabaldon
Outlander
Isn't this a stunning sight? A scene so mesmerizing that all I wanted to do was walk into the water and swim around with the grebes, egrets, and cormorants. Look, it's so clear and so reflective you can see the details in the egret's under wings. The sky really was so blue you could drown in it. A sky that screams, autumn, but indeed, October. And a there's a bit of colorful algae to make the picture have a little color, but not so much algae that the ecosystem was an unhealthy mess for the birds. While on my visit to the Clifton Court Forebay, yesterday, I was able to see a number a beautiful sights, so don't give up on me, I can't wait to show you the beautiful things I see!
A mother, father, and two baby Clark's Grebes frolic in the warm afternoon sun, in early autumn. The father swims a short distance away, and returns a little bit later with the perfect meal for their picnic... a shiny silver colored fish. He hands it off to one of his children, and floats over to his wife to give her a kiss. They are a happy American family, enjoying life in their home, the waters of the Clifton Court Forebay, in Byron, California. There is just something deeply magical about the sunshine in autumn, that no other season enjoys.
"The magic of autumn has seized the countryside; now that the sun isn't ripening anything it shines for the sake of the golden age; for the sake of Eden; to please the moon for all I know."
~Elizabeth Coatsworth
Personal Geography: Almost An Autobiography
It was a beautiful, if not apocalyptic appearing, sunset last night, as smoke from the fires continue! I believe the firefighters have the upper hand, finally, and Mother Nature will be helping out over Thanksgiving, with some much needed rain. That will be good for clearing the air, and in extinguishing the fires, but it will also present a whole new tragedy, as it will make it difficult to continue to search for remains among the devastation. And in Southern California, the rain will present a whole new nightmare in the form of mudslides.
Honestly, I am not sure how much more can happen to California, except we haven't had an earthquake in a long time, and I am becoming nervous. I need to call our insurance company and add some specific earthquake insurance to our policy. It makes sense if you, own a home, and live in California. You just never know when a natural disaster will come knocking at your door! Sigh. I am tired. I am sad. I feel stressed for the survivors, but Alan and I did give a small donation last night, through a charitable account our mayor, Michael Tubbs, set up to help the victims. It felt good to do something! I hope as we move along over the next few months, we can do more!
As I said in a previous post, Donald Trump came to Paradise last Saturday, to meet the firefighters and first responders, and offer his support. It was what was expected of him, and of course he never misses a chance for a photo op, but if he was going to come, why, WHY, couldn't he have at least gotten the name of the town right? When I heard he couldn't even get the name right, despite being told three times in front of the press, I wanted to just scream into the night...
It's PARADISE, California not PLEASURE, California! MOTHERFUCKER!
Alan and I went for a ride for the first day of November. This autumn is only at the half way point, so I am prepared to chase it for as long as I can, and my darling husband supports me in my creativity, so off we went for Cisco Grove park. The rain and snow from the day before had unfortunately did some early damage to the usually lovely Aspen trees.
There wasn't much to be photographed, although I did get a few shots there, but after we realized that there was little to do there, we decided to continue on to Donner Lake, and then into Reno! We had a blast, and I will share more about our adventure as the week progresses on! But for now, let me show you some of the most beautiful of the sights we were treated to along the way! Most of them along HWY 80 around Donner Summit, and just west of Reno, Nevada. My cameras got quite a workout!
"Ah, September! You are the doorway to the season that awakens my soul... but I must confess that I love you only because you are a prelude to my beloved October."
~Peggy Toney Horton
The season is rapidly coming to a close, so I thought it would be fun to look back at how it began
And how it ended...
I love you autumn. You are beautiful and delicious in any light!
"I was a little excited but mostly blorift. "Blorift" is an adjective I just made up that means 'Completely overwhelmed but proceeding as if everything is fine and reacting to the stress with the torpor of a possum.' I have been blorft every day for the past seven years."
~Tina Fey,Bossypants
If Only I Could Have Found My Blorift...
I read Tina Fey's book, Bossypants, and couldn't put it down. She is amazing! Truly, she is this generations Lucille Ball! Can you imagine if she and Lucy could have starred together? Wow, it would have been comedy GOLD! Recently, I saw her in her latest film, Admission. She impressed me yet again with her ability to entertain. This time, she took a bit of a break from her usual comedy escapades, to show a different side, her dramatic ability! She had me in tears at one point, but in a good way.
As I was mentioning in my post yesterday, movies give us a chance to shake off the stresses and distractions of everyday life, and when you can find a movie that is so good it actually makes you forget your cares for an hour or so then it's a not just a fun way to shake off the stress, but a smart one as well. Stress is a bad thing for the soul. I know of what I speak, because this past week was really stressful. For me it began last Sunday, when the current owner of the property I live on decided to help herself and walk right into my home. I have warned her before that under our contract that I am to have 24 hours notice, but there she was, once again, trespassing, and this time she brought friends!
People I have never even met!
As I said, this happened last Sunday afternoon, and the stress from that resulted in the headache from HELL! Then Monday came along, and well, we all know how the week played out from there. Compared to what some went through last week, my petty problems seem just that... PETTY. And in the grand scheme of things I suppose it doesn't compare, but that's just it, can you really compare problems with other folks, or can you just do the best you can do with the problems you own? Most of us are just doing what we can do to get by, for me that means explaining one more time that not only are my landlord's actions annoying... they are illegal! And remedying things by purchasing a decent little security system and installing it so it will be able to document the illegal entry.
I wish I didn't have to do that. I like the lady very much.
She doesn't want the fact to be true, that she can't walk into my home just because she owns it.
Stress happens... right? And with each new event, my headache seemed to pound harder. What can you do? I did what I could to get rid of it, but didn't have much luck. My usual coping mechanism, in lieu of a day at the movies, is watching General Hospital. It was preempted several times last week, so there went that! LOL. I get the news needed to report about the the terrible things that went on last week, but after a while the wall to wall coverage became downright horrifying and several times I found myself rethinking what leaving the house means. I hate that! I want to just live my life, but who knows what living in America is really about anymore. Things have changed so much from when I was a child. Sometimes it doesn't seem like America. Like it's something different, but I don't understand how to feel or think about it or who to trust.
Like I said. Stress. It was the word of the week! But like with everything, the stress did pass!
After the capture of the Boston bombing suspect Friday night, I went to bed happy and relieved for the people of Boston, and slept deeply for 7 straight hours, which seemed to be just what the doctor ordered! Of course it didn't hurt that Dylan cuddled into me, and Hendrix bit my toes all night, in that cute little way he does when he wants to play! And when I woke up yesterday morning, the sun looked a little prettier, and I actually felt like working in the garden! The headache had moved on, and my body was ready to play. Since there wasn't any movies I wanted to go see, I thought it would be good to finally get the Heirloom tomatoes planted, and start our newest project of growing Yukon Gold potatoes!
And if all that wasn't enough to put a smile on a stressed out girls face, look who fluttered by to say "HI"...
It was a sunny day! Don't you love sunny days and little blue butterflies?
"Here Comes The Sun"
The Beatles
Here Comes The Sun Here Comes The Sun And I Say It's All Right...
"A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?"
~Albert Einstein
Yum! The pear tree is in full, glorious bloom right now, and I can almost taste the Pear and Havarti sandwiches I enjoy every autumn. There is nothing like grabbing a piece of fruit off your very own tree, and making something amazingly delicious with it! I created a few new recipes using the pears from the yard, but it was the Pear and Havarti sandwiches I enjoyed the most. I will have a lot on my plate this year,pun intended, when it comes to experimenting with garden goodness, as we are planning to do a bigger variety of vegetables and container berries. Blackberries, Blueberries and White Strawberries are currently leading the list, but so are edible flowers. I love trying new things. Hopefully by early summer, I will have the recipe blog all dusted off, and ready to go with new original recipes for 2013!
Stay Tuned!
Mood: Happy
~Me :)
**A Quick Reminder: This coming Saturday we will be playing another round of the Round Robin Photo Challenges! Everyone is welcome, so please consider joining us! You can find all the information at the official Round Robin blog, but if you have any questions, please feel free to leave your questions in the comment thread for this post! :)
"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are"
~Anias Nin
Did it seem to you like January was NEVER GOING TO END? Or was that just me? It's not like I hate January or anything, I don't, in fact, this January afforded me a lot of time with the cameras. That is never a bad thing. It's just that the month seemed long. I don't know, it's probably that it has 31 days or something, but hey, that fact will make February with 28 days seem like a week. Right? Well, lets aim for that anyway. LOL.
As of this week, we are officially in the middle of winter, and so far is hasn't been super cold winter as winters go. I would really love to see another big blast of winter come rolling through. Something with hard driving rain, or maybe a snow flurry or two. If it doesn't happen in the first part of February, it more than likely won't happen, and I will be stuck with the days not only getting longer, but filled with depressingly bright sunshine.
Sigh. Sunshine is so common, now rain and snow, that is where shadows and and filtered lighting make things really interesting. LOL. Oh well, when I look back at what I accomplished with the camera in January, I am satisfied with what I did. You can't really ask for more than that! Right?
"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine."
-Anthony J. D'Angelo
EMPS #135: SOAK UP THE SUN.NOW CLOSED! The happy creatures you see SOAKING UP THE SUN are the famous Pier 39 sea lions! It wouldn't be Pier 39 without them! Oh my, viewing them always makes me crave a long nap in the sun. LOL. They inspire me to SOAK UP THE SUN! How about you? Do you like to get out SOAK UP THE SUN as much as I, or the sea lions do? If so, show us! I can't wait to see your favorite sunny (SOAKING UP THE SUN) activities!
EXTRA CREDIT: Tell us about your favorite sunny day song! Better still, quote the lyrics or maybe embed the video along with your SOAK UP THE SUN submission.
Guidelines for Assignment Submissions...
1.The EMPS closes each Sunday evening at 9:00 PM (ET). No submissions will be accepted after that time.
2. Submit your entry by getting your photo, uploading it to you blog or website, and then comeback here and leave me your link in the comment thread. PLEASE REMEMBER... THE LINK YOU LEAVE MUST GO BACK TO AN ENTRY WHICH IS SPECIFIC TO THIS WEEK'S ASSIGNMENT! A general link to your site will not do, and will not be added to the list of those participating the following Monday. HYPERLINKS ARE NOT ACCEPTED!
3. Please be sure to provide a link back to the assignment in your submission, so your readers can find the assignment and join us. Everyone is welcome to play along!
4. Please keep in mind that the image you submit for the EMPS assignment, must be your own original photography. NO LIFTING!
3. Karen Karen shares her very favorite ways to enjoy CITRUS FRUITS! AWWW.... Let me count the ways! Karen, pour me a glass of Diet Crush, I will be right there!
Thank you for your participation this week. See you next week with an all new assignment!
-Carly
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