Things To Come

 

"I knew by the signs it would be a hard winter. The hollies bore a heavy crop of berries and birds stripped them bare. Crows quarreled in reaped fields and owls cried in the mountains, mournful as widows. Fur and moss grew thicker than usual. Cold rains came, driven sideways through the trees by north winds, and snows followed."

 

~Sarah Micklem

Firethorn

 

 

Why do they do it? Why can't they, the Covid-19 deniers, understand it's a matter of life and death? Why don't they understand it's not the flu? And, at times, one will encounter the truly jaw dropping, and the question must be asked... what is with the Covidiot that has enough brain power to put a mask to their face, but not enough to position it properly? It's the couple in the photo, and others like them, that makes me wonder... are they trying to provoke a response, or are they just clueless? Could it both? I want to understand.

 

 I wanted to approach them and ask... why? Why don't you believe it's a dangerous pandemic? Why are you taking your life into your own hands? Why do you care so little about your neighbors and your community, that you can't even be bothered to try? Why can't you just listen to the science? Why can't you listen to experts who have been studying infectious diseases for over half a century? Are you truly that selfish? Do you really trust the "expert" advice of Donald Trump? A man so corrupt that he is considering issuing himself, Rudy Guiliani and his children blanket pardons. What makes you believe he has your best interests at heart? What has he done, for you to invest so much faith in him?

 

I spotted this couple on my last official shopping trip, just before Thanksgiving. I wanted to approach them, but decided to not do it. I thought about making an example of them on Twitter, but it could lead to something I find just as repugnant... the ever popular death threat. It seems some folks can't express their feelings without mentioning violence, and threatening to kill the offending party. It seems every infraction no matter how big or how small, must end in the offending party being hung at dawn, but that is life in America in 2020. Folks, so afraid of dying that they are willing to kill others, and others who are so afraid of listening to more than one voice, they are willing to take their life, and the lives of others, in their hands. I don't understand all the time folks waste, when life is so short anyway.

 

I'm back inside now. And it's a good thing I made the decision to self quarantine again, because its becoming more apparent that Governor Newsom is getting ready to shut the state down again. He has to, because in the last couple weeks the Covid-19 stats for the state have exploded. I support it 100%, and at the same time, my heart is breaking for all the small businesses that have had to shutter, and all the folks out of work because this virus was born in the year 2020. Autumn was my first real time out of the house since the original shelter in place order was issued last spring, and it did wonders for my mood and sleeping. Autumn is usually a time of healing for me, but this year it was like no other time in my life. Beautiful leaves and new animals and birds I spotted with my camera. New places to explore. The golden autumn sun. And finally, the national election and win for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. All that in the three months of autumn, with a few weeks left to go.

 

But winter is coming, and it's promising to be the coldest winter of my life. There is a possibility Alan or I, or both of us, could contract Covid-19, even after doing our part, even after following the directives, and educating ourselves. It will be hard to not wonder if it was because of someone else's carelessness. Why can't everyone just be a little less selfish? Why would someone ruin a beautiful place like the Woodbridge Ecological Preserve, by discarding a mask and a cotton swab, that could be infected with a deadly virus? Why would someone do that? I don't get littering anyway, but that is taking lack of self-respect to a new level. Who does that?

 

 

 

~Carly

Stockton, California

December 3rd 2020

Reflections Of Autumn

"I am made for autumn. Summer and I have a fickle relationship, but everything about autumn is perfect to me. Wooly jumpers, Wellington boot, scarves, then first, then thick, socks. The low slanting light, the crisp mornings, the chill in my fingers, those last warm sunny days before the rain and the wind. Her moody hues and subdued palate punctuated every now and again by a brilliant orange, scarlet or copper goodbye. She is my true love."

 

~Alys Fowler

 

Well, the post for December 2nd, somehow disappeared, so this is the replacement. It was a good one I think, but the evil spirits of blogging got hungry, and my post was their midnight snack. I have decided to blame it on monsters. The Mothman perhaps. Anyway, it was about reflections in autumn. Hence the title. I wish Blogger would not have forced this new format on us. I am not really enjoying it much!

 

Enjoy

 

~Carly 

Stockton, California

December 2nd 2020

Two Sounds Of Autumn

"Two sounds of autumn are unmistabable... 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

 

Okay, I am hooked, photographing the birds the last couple weeks has really brought me out of my funk. I have been needing to practice my action photography, and I can't think of a better way to do that, then being at the mercy of birds. All shapes. All sizes. All lighting conditions. I'm ready for all of it! I have visited both the Woodbridge Preserve and the Cosumnes River and was pleased to find new birds with each visit. This past weekend it was the Canadian Geese that I photographed the most, because the Sandhill Cranes were nowhere to be found. It was warmer than on my first visit, and it was a lot clearer, so I am sure they were off enjoying the weather somewhere up the delta. My guess would be either across the Rio Linda bridge, or perhaps all the way up in Sacramento. I don't want to know which, I am not wanting to be tempted to try to find them. I am enjoying being surprised and delighted by the variety of birds at the both places, at any given time. In due time will be adding new spots as we move into 2021, but I am in no hurry, if worse comes to worse, I can always do bird watching in my yard. Hey, we ended up with a full sized male Pheasant in the yard a couple years ago, that was a game changer to be sure! Now, wouldn't it be nice if a Snowy Egret found it's way to the yard?

 

Today's Leaf Of The Day

 ~Carly

Stockton, California

December 1st 2020

Ghosts

 

Winter's Ghost

Autumn moon

incautious in the dark river

Winter's ghost walks

with a covered face

and silver bones wait in all animals

to be bone cloth upon her shoulder

wait for her happiness in that they are silver

 

~Tamara Rendell

Mystical Tides

 

~Carly

Stockton, California

November 30th 2020

 

 

Number 69

"The tints of autumn... a mighty flower garden

 blossoming under the spell of the enchanter, frost."

 

~John Greenleaf Whittier

 

 

~Carly

November 29th 2020

Stockton, California

Number 68

 

"Love the trees until their leaves fall off,

 then encourage them to try again next year."

 

~Chad Sugg 

We are already at the sixty-eighth autumn leaf featured for 2020. How can a year, so full of tragedy and pain, have actually gone by so quickly? And at the same time, these last couple months leading up to the handover of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden, seem to be dragging. How does that work? Don't answer, I already know deep down why, I guess I just have to pose the question into the void sometimes, because, it feels less lonely.

~Carly

Stockton, California

November 28th 2020

 

Bird Watching Is A Lot Like Autumn Leaf Peeping

 

"November at it's best...

 with a sort of delightful menace in the air."

 

~Anne Bosworth Greene 

 

There are so many species of birds in the Central Valley, that I could spend my whole life out here with the camera, and not photograph the same bird twice. I wonder which of my albums will contain more individual photos by the end of 2021, my Leaves, or my Birds? It's a very pleasant thing to ponder. Peep.

 

~Carly

Stockton California

November 27th 2020

 

Thanksgiving 2020

 

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."

 

~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

 

From Our House To Yours

 

Happy Thanksgiving

 

 

~Carly

November 26th 2020

Stockton California

Flying About The Earth

 

"Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love... that makes life and nature harmonize. The birds are consulting about their migrations, the trees are putting on the hectic or the pallid hues of decay, and begin to strew the ground, that one's very footsteps may not disturb the repose of earth and air, while they give us a scent that is a perfect anodyne to the restless spirit. Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."

 

~George Eliot

George Eliot's Life As Related In Her Letter And Journals

Volume #1

 

 

 This has been one of the warmest Thanksgivings I can remember. I don't know if that is a good thing, considering Climate Change, but it's nice for doing landscape and wildlife photography. I have some new subjects, so my body is grateful for the temperatures, although ever since I was a child I have hoped for cold, ideally rainy, Thanksgivings. Doesn't Thanksgiving dinner taste better when it's cold and raining outside? Just like in the summertime I like to put on the air conditioner and climb under a blanket. I'm just wired weird I think. Sunny California gets boring, particularly after summers that don't seem to end. Why does autumn go by so fast, but summer sometimes seems to never end? Just one more thing to ponder I suppose.

~Carly

Stockton, California

November 25th 2020

Autumn Reflections Winter Shadows

 

"The smell of burning firewood and the molding of organic earthly substances reminded her of 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 

 

I guess I really shouldn't complain, after all this year's autumn was more than generous with it's leaves, but I can feel winter coming on, and in a little less than a month from now, this project, and the season will come to an end. So, I guess it's time to choose a project for winter, and realistically, I think I choose birds as my new subject, with maybe tree skeletons as a sub-subject. Both will allow me to do my photography from inside the house, or the car, if the weather, or Covid-19 makes it necessary. The long shadows of the winter sun can't be counted on, which is fine, but it's another fascination of mine. Who knows, maybe when the time comes, I won't limit myself to one subject or another, maybe I will let my Twitter family decide which works the best as a nod to the season of winter.

 

What do you think about the two photos in this post?

Black and White or Color?

Which is the most pleasing to the eye?

 

Click To Enlarge

 

~Carly

Stockton, California

November 24th 2020

 

 

Autumn And The Sandhill Crane

 

Pilgrims

 

Tuscan reds and ochre hues

Olive greens and skies of blue

Sunlit valleys of charm

Secluded homestead and hilltop farm

 

Over hills birds in flight

Aromas whet the appetite

Autumn rustle fills the air

Reveling grace of trees laid bare

 

Pathways meander through the vale

Inviting travelers its height to scale

Sunset rewards as evening ends

And pilgrims to the night descend

 

~Collette O'Mahony

The Soul In Words: A Collection Of Poetry And Verse

 

 

Last Saturday was such a pretty autumn day, that we decided to take a drive to the Woodbridge Ecological Reserve, in Lodi, California. A couple weeks ago, I came across an article about how large numbers of Sandhill Cranes stop in the Delta wetlands, just west of Lodi, while on their migratory path. I have always loved Snowy Egrets and Herons, but I have never seen a Sandhill Crane, so it was kind of exciting to add a new bird to my Google Album, Birds. Seeing these cranes for the first time, has been an incredible mood lifter! There is way to much beauty in life, especially in autumn, to waste one day in the house! The cranes are such popular visitors every year, that Lodi now holds a Sandhill Crane Festival welcome them, as they move along their migratory path!

 

 This year, however, all the festivals in California have been cancelled due to the Covid-19 virus, which is sad, because festivals are one of the nicest ways to get to know the best of where you live! One of my favorites from the Bay Area, was the Pumpkin Festival, held yearly, in Half Moon Bay. I sure hope 2021 brings all of us some relief from the pandemic, and the world will see a genuine vaccine that will make everything safer for everyone. I am ready to stretch my wings a bit, now that I am fully settled into the Central Valley. I like little festivals, and the Central Valley has some delicious crops to celebrate. Apricots, Walnuts, Grapes abound, but for viewing just sheer beauty, you gotta love these beautiful birds! I am definitely making a note on my 2021 calendar. 

 

Once I got to the reserve, I was astonished to find that not only were there hundreds of cranes, but there were many other species of birds to see and photograph for the first time! Alan and I counted about 20 new species of birds that we hadn't seen before. We both agreed that we will be visiting again. Soon. The delta is so beautiful, the next time we venture out there will probably be to do some twilight shots. Sunrise and sunset is when they are at their most active, so hopefully there will be a colorful sunset to make for a beautiful photo of the cranes in flight. And to my delight, there is still a lot of autumn colors in the trees. Can you tell how happy I am to be on this new adventure with the camera?

 

~Carly

Stockton, California

November 23rd 2020

Love Among Leaves

 

"Autumn is no time to lie alone."

 

~Murasaki Shikibu

 

Sometimes it makes me a little sad to see a single leaf, all alone on the sidewalk. Solitary, as if without friends. When I was a little girl I learned that it is a good idea to talk to your plants and trees, because they respond on a basic level, and there was at least some anecdotal evidence that it's positive for humans too. I know, leaves don't have friends, but each one does spend it's life in clusters of company, on the same branches, with other leaves of difference shades and fingerprints, but one community all the same. Does love exist among leaves? I always wondered, if when one of the group drops, is there a sadness that is understood among the leaves, or is it a time of rejoice because, for the leaves, things worked as it should have? 

 

Just another mystery in the universe I suppose.

 

~Carly

Stockton, California

November 22nd 2020

 

Brown Sugar And Cimmonette

 

"It looked like the world was covered in a cobbler crust

 of brown sugar and cinnamon."

 

~Sarah Addison Allen

First Frost

 

 I said I might do some more teddy bear photos, and I did and I think this one came out pretty good! Heidi is a good pal, and so is her little pal, Cimmonette. I love the name, Cimmonette. I had a friend, when I was a small child, who was named that. I loved that it sounded so girly and a little like my favorite spice, cinnamon. I never really liked my name, but what can you do? Funny how that works. Anyway, I always liked the name, and figured I would name a beloved pet Cimmonette one day, but then Alan and I decided to name our cats after singers because of our love of different genres of music. It just worked out that way. I don't know... all's well that ends well I guess. I think my next object to photograph will be a honey bear, which, as it turns out, looks good in any lighting or setting. Some things just aren't fair!

 

~Carly

Stockton, California

November 21st 2020