Mr. Brushstrokes Raven

He took this photo from a distance of about 700 feet or more: the tree was at the top of a ridge, he was at the bottom.  I think it was an amazing capture!  He calls it "a happy accident."  (Please be sure to left click to enlarge it, the size here doesn't do the photo justice).

Wordless Wednesday - Drama

Mr. Murphy's Wildness

"He will kill mice and he will be kind to babies when he is in the house, just as long as they do not pull his tail too hard.  But when he has done that, and between times, and when the moon gets up and night comes, he is the Cat that Walks by Himself, and all places are alike to him.  Then he goes out to the Wet Wild Woods or up the Wet Wild Trees or on the Wet Wild Roofs, waving his wild tail and walking by his wild lone."  Rudyard Kipling

Sunday Sunlight

Taken October 14, 2011.  This is one of the things I love best about living in a forest; how the sunlight seeks out openings to trickle down through, picking and choosing which areas will be the stars...even if just for a few fleeting minutes.

The Last Evening of Summer

These lovely clouds were floating about today, but not a drop of rain did they share.  The setting sun painted them in spectacular colors as the birds sang their evening 'good-night' songs.

Though it doesn't feel all that much like autumn here yet, there are reminders that summer is making her departure, albeit very reluctantly.  The birds of summer, the Grosbeaks, Rufus Sided Towhees, and Bullocks Orioles,  have been gone for several weeks, leaving the forest to the birds that live here year round: Steller's Jays, Chickadees, Rosy Finches, Acorn and Gilded Flicker woodpeckers, Red Breasted and White Breasted Nuthatches, Juncos and Ravens.  It's been a bit cooler, especially at night, and some of the leaves are starting to turn colors.

This has been the warmest summer we've ever experienced, and I'm not one bit sorry to see her leave.  I just wish she'd hurry up!

Something to Consider

"How beautifully the leaves grow old.  How full of light and color are their last days."  John Burroughs

Sunday Sunsets

Taken November 8, 2008.  The sun was behind me, obviously, and I liked the way it painted everything with a warm golden light.

Changes

It occurred to me today as I was watching yellow leaves being blown from the trees by the wind, that I also am in the Autumn of my life.  Time is no longer my friend, no longer 'on my side' as Mick Jagger sang.  I can't say I'm in middle age anymore...who lives to be 124?  Who would want to?  It would be horrible to outlive one's family and friends. 

My dearest friend and neighbor has also made a change.  No longer is she just down the lane and around the corner from me as she has been since 1978.  A few months ago she retired and has now, at her son's insistence, moved to Oregon to be close to him.  It makes sense.  He is her only family and I know he is much easier in his mind having her close. After she called me today to let me know she and her animals had arrived at their new home safely I walked over to her house, as I have done countless times before.  It felt very strange to look at her house and know she is no longer there.  Of course, we'll talk often on the phone, but that's a poor substitute, at best, for having a dear friend actually being close by and IN your daily life.  Still, it's better than nothing. 

If growing up is a process of accumulating, growing old is a process of letting go...and, sometimes, that's really hard.

Faeries Friday - Wonderful Whimsey

I found this charming painting on Pinterest and I couldn't resist sharing it.  I don't know who the artist is; if you do, please let me know.  This painting is so full of imagination and wonderful whimsey, I just love it.

Malcom and Merlin

This is Malcolm on the left (he's grown quite a bit since his last appearance on here) and that's his brother, Merlin, on the right.  It's nearly impossible to get a photo of Merlin because as soon as he spots my camera he's gone. All I get are shots of the amazing invisible cat (if you have a cat, I bet you know what I mean). He was just waking up here; a split second later he was dashing up the stairs.  But, this time I was fast enough...ha, ha, gotcha Merlin!

Wordless Wednesday - Steller's Jay

Fleeting, But Eternal

"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world."  John Muir

Second Spring

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."  Albert Camus

Sunday Sunsets

Impatience

This isn't a current picture; I took it in November of 2010.  I'm soooooo impatient for the autumn colors to arrive, but I'm afraid that this year they might not be so great.  Two of the dogwood trees on my property have many leaves that are just turning brown and dropping off!  I hope all the deciduous trees don't behave like these two trees.  It's just been too darn hot up here, although today we did get a little rain.  I'm crossing my fingers and hoping we get a lot more rain, we need it.

Sunday Sunsets

Taken in early November of 2009 from Highway 18 (Rim of the World Highway). 

So Long, August, Welcome September!

"No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace, as I have seen in one autumnal face."  from Elegy IX by John Donne 

Of course, it's not officially Autumn yet; I believe the first official day is the Autumn Equinox.  But, it is starting to feel like Autumn.  I suppose we'll have to suffer through a couple more heat waves here in the Southern California mountains.  I can remember going back to school (back then school started the first week after Labor Day) and desperately wanting to wear my new school clothes.  Beautiful plaid skirts in so many colors, gorgeous matching sweaters, luscious new boots...all called out their siren songs from my closet.  I would usually succumb on the first day of school, as would many of my friends.  But, after spending that one day wondering if we had somehow descended into the lower regions of Hades, we would quickly, albeit sadly, dress in our old, cooler clothing until the temperature became more accommodating. 

This time of year always brings such nostalgia with it.  I always, in September, feel the need to buy reams of new paper, boxes of new pencils, new notebooks; none of which I need, but still... 

September also brings a longing for faces not seen in many years, for the music our laughter made.  Sometimes, on a September evening when the wind is right, I can hear the faint echoes of that carefree laughter drifting by on the breeze. 

Ah, September...

Faeries Friday - The Blue Moon Faery

I don't what the glowing orb that she is holding in her hands is, but it only glows when there's a blue moon! 

A Blue Moon

The second full moon of August, according to the moon gadget on my sidebar, is full tonight.  The calendar I have says it won't be full until tomorrow, but She looked pretty full to me so...here She is in all her blue glory.  (She wasn't really blue; I had to give that a little 'help'). 

I call the moon Grandmother because that is what my First Nations ancestors called her.  Mother Earth, Father Sky, Grandmother Moon, Grandfather Sun: humans, and all living beings, are connected as family through these four. 

Wordless Wednesday - Colors

Sunday Sunlight

I took this back on June 17th of 2009.  I really like the light and shadow, the patterns within patterns on the water and the shadow on the back of the little wave (it's the diagonal shadow in the middle of the photo).  I could look at water patterns and reflections forever.  One of the things that I love most about a camera is that it lets me look at things that otherwise are moving too fast for my eyes to properly capture.  (Left click on the photo to enlarge it).

Faeries Friday - Elderberry

(The illustration above is by Cicely Mary Barker, one of my favorite artists)

The elderberries that grow wild in these mountains will look more like those in the painting above when they are ripe.  I took the photo below about two weeks ago, so maybe they are ripe by now.

Jam can be made from the berries, but all other parts of the plant are poisonous, except for the tiny flowers.  If a mammal eats the berries raw, the berry seeds are toxic, but birds can eat the berries and suffer no adverse reactions.  I tried making some jam once, years ago, but the berries of the species that grow in these mountains are so tiny it took me forever to pick enough to make the jam!  I've read that one can make a sort of sparking wine from the blossoms, but I've never tried that.  When I was young I helped my daddy and grandfather make moonshine (a clear liquor distilled from corn), but that's a story for another time...

Wordless Wednesday - Signs