This withering grape leaf caught my eye yesterday for its varied coloration and interesting holes. I found the pictures I took to be even more interesting, looking to my eyes like abstract mosaic images made from torn scraps of paper.
Category: photos
serene New England fall pictures
I am feeling far from serene today, and may even have had a bit of a tantrum today. We are in the process of moving, and even though it is only a local move, it is a flood of new stresses added to our already packed lives. We are dealing with contractors and service providers, and today was one of those days that left me feeling unhinged. There are so many details to track and sort through that it makes it hard for me to think straight, especially when dealing with conflicting priority lists and contractors giving the run-around.
So, to compensate for the lack of serenity that I am feeling, I am posting photos of a relaxing walk in New Hampshire with friends from a few years ago.
a new leaf
Okay, the leaf is not terribly new. It’s clearly been around, and has the scars to show it. But it is a new photo of a leaf, and a new post featuring a leaf.
a basket of squash
There are nights when I am just too tired to think of a clever post title. I’m sure that there must be something witty to say about this basket of squash I spotted at Plimoth Plantation this afternoon, but I am fresh out of wit. I did, however, quite like the look of this little white squash. So I will just say that.
Can’t see the thicket for the trees.
This week’s friday foto finder theme is “thicket.” While I have some idea of the meaning of the word, I can’t say it’s one that is frequent use for me. I was a bit stumped about what to post. I even went so far as to look up the definition of the word on Dictionary. com: “a thick or dense growth of shrubs, bushes, or small trees.” Living in the woods as I do, I can’t say I particularly would tend to notice the dense growth of small trees, largely because the landscape is so dominated by tall trees. And most of the shrubs and bushes I see around here are either undergrowth, or used in somewhat sparingly in landscaping. I’m sure there are thickets to be found in Massachusetts, but I don’t seem to have photographed them…
This photo was taken a couple of summers ago at our town park. At least I think it was at the park. It could have been any number of places in the area that are dominated by tall trees.
On the other hand, I did find a couple of photos from the Irish countryside with clumps of shrubs and small trees that are more suggestive of thickets.
I think the rows and clumps of tall bushes and small trees could reasonably be called thickets. What do you think?
To see what are thickets are to be found, pay a visit to the fff blog.
Sourpuss
This picture of an adolescent lion cub yawning cracks me up. And given how tired I am right now, and how cranky I realized the tiredness had made me, it seemed to fit the mood.
(Actually, I am generally quite happy tonight, bursts of crankiness aside. My mother has come out for a visit from California, and I am looking forward to her company. I am also very appreciative of the help she is planning to give me with some of the overwhelming home projects that are leading to my cranky tiredness.)
blueberry eggs
A few years ago, at our favorite local farm to go blueberry picking, I came across a hint of blue among the leaves of a blueberry bush that was a different hue of blue than the rest of the blueberrires. There were also bits of yellow and pink and fluffy gray that were most definitely like blueberry-like.
When I first starting poking through the bush, as one does when picking blueberries, my rustling of the leaves woke up one of the little guys. It’s not in focus, but I’m amused by the wide open yellow-orange mouth.
Realizing soon enough that I was not going to drop any tasty grubs into the open mouth, the little one went back to sleep.
I was very careful not to get too close the nest with my hands or my camera, but my zoom let me see up close. I was very impressed by the tidy little nest.
I’m not sure what sort of birds these are, I wonder if they might be Eastern Bluebirds. (I didn’t get to see the mama.)
A short while later, I came across another clump of not-blueberries in another bush. This time, the baby birds were clearly older, and possibly a different type of bird altogether.
These guys were looking a little crowded in their nest.
The rows of blueberry bushes were covered by netting to keep out the birds, but clearly not all the birds had taken that hint that they weren’t welcome. I was happy to see them, though!
artichoke eggs
These cute little artichokes were some that I bought a couple of years ago in the Spring.
Their tiny size and shape was so egg-like once I cut the stems off that I couldn’t resist arranging them in an egg carton.
They look like strange little alien pod eggs. I do wonder what sort of creature would hatch out of such a spiky egg! Likely one with very sharp claws.
A gallery of damaged leaves
This seems to have been an especially good year for caterpillars, because I’ve noticed that almost all of the leaves that fall (as well as those still up in the trees) have quite a few holes or other evidence of having been munched. In spite of these flaws, I still find the leaves to be quite beautiful. Many of the holes even add to their character. (This is not the first time I’ve made that observation.)
An orange leaf (or what’s left of it), outlined in red.
This leaf was thoroughly munched before falling to rest on the thick carpet of moss.
The bright orange and red leaves tend to steal the show, but bright green and yellow leaves can still be quite eye-catching. (It was the colors more than the holes that caught my eye with this fellow.)
I like the way the mottled surface and holes of this bright red leaf echo the patterns of the rocks in the asphalt.
This graceful oak leaf has tiny holes spread out over its surface.
The holes in this oak leaf look quite lacy.
After taking this photo a few days after the photo above, I realized that it was almost certainly the same leaf that caught my eye again. (If you mentally flip it over, you can see the same shapes in the holes.) It’s interesting to see how the color of the leaf continued to change after falling on the ground.
I am not the only one who enjoys finding interesting leaves. Also, notice the funny ring of green around a hole in this leaf.
collecting tokens 