Tag: leaves

leaving off where I picked up

It’s the end of November, and I managed to post here more or less daily. (I dropped the ball for 2 days when I was travelling, but didn’t let this dissuade me from continuing. That in itself feels like an accomplishment.) Characteristically, though, I didn’t manage to post a number of things I had in mind to post this month. Life has a way of sweeping me along with the current, without always leaving me the energy to put my thoughts into words. At least I usually take some photos to help me remember where I’ve been and what I’ve done. So it seemed fitting to end this month the way I started: with a photo of a leaf that caught my eye. (This photos was actually one I took back in October–there aren’t too many colorful leaves left on or off the trees.)

It took me longer than it should have to decide what to post. I had trouble picking a photo to go along with my rambling. I have lots and lots of photos that I’ve taken, many of which I like and want to post. But at this point, they aren’t well organized. For many years I was very systematic in my tagging and organizing in my digital photo library. I could easily bring up sets of photos that I’d tagged with keywords I knew I’d return to. And more importantly, I tagged when and where I’d posted a photo. But then there was a software calamity that resulted in all of my tags getting royally mucked. And I haven’t yet recovered from this trauma. I guess it’s time to pick up again and start liberally tagging my photos.

But flipping back through my photos was a lovely trip down memory lane. Including memories of some lovely trips, and some lovely lanes. Perhaps I’ll post some of them here. (Will I ever find a frequency of posting here that is somewhat intermediate between daily and virtually never?)

Frosty fronds

Remarkably, it’s not that late, and I’m not that tired. Today was a mellow day where I got to stay home, aside from walking the dog. It was hard to motivate myself to go out in the cold this morning, but I was rewarded by views of some fabulously frosty fronds and flora.

And just because, here is my furry friend among the frosty fronds.

Today was a reasonably productive day. I got some work done towards a couple of work projects, and had a (remote) meeting and a (facetime) violin lesson. (Not my best lesson, since I haven’t had time to practice. But not too terrible, either.)

It’s hard to believe it’s already November 29th. Only one more day of my commitment of daily blogging.

Skipping town

I shouldn’t stay up too much later, as I have an early flight. I’m meeting up with my sister in DC for a few days, and then visiting a friend in Maryland. I have to get on the road for the airport before 4 a.m., which just doesn’t seem right. I’m still packing, which turns out to be a challenge, because I apparently need to pack for multiple seasons. It looks like there will be some nice weather a couple of days, but when I head home Monday morning, there may be freezing temperatures.

Speaking of not being sure how to dress for the season, I noticed this small tree displaying some wardrobe confusion yesterday. Note the spring-like blossoms. And the fall foliage. On the same tree. (See the little springy rosy blossom buds peeking out from behind the autumnal yellow leaf?) I feel you, little tree.

I’ll hopefully still remember to post while I’m away. I have a lot of work to get done, too.

A few fallen leaves

The thing about deciding to post every day is that it means that every day, you are faced with the reality of posting something. Even when you are tired. In keeping with my grand tradition, I am sharing some photos. And seeing as it’s fall, the photos are of leaves.

I do love the fall, and seeing the spectacular show put on by the foliage. Even after they’ve fallen, a lot of leaves still catch my eye.

changing shadows, unchanged leaf

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A little over a week ago, a single leaf caught my eye out on the deck. It was caught between the boards, and casting a long dramatic shadow in the morning light.

Yesterday, a similar-looking leaf caught my eye casting a shadow, this time in the afternoon light. Looking at the two photos, I’ve decided that it was actually the same leaf. It’s moved a bit, and flipped around, but it appears to have all the same markings. It seems to have blown out of the spot where it was trapped, only to get caught again.

leaf-shadow2-afternoon

It seems I’m not quite ready to leave November behind. Both the leaves, and the daily posting. I’m hoping to settle into some sort of moderate frequency for posting, perhaps something like once or twice a week. Somehow, though, if I’m not all in, I tend to be all out. Here’s hoping I can break that trend.

late hangers-on

Some leaves just haven’t gotten the memo that it’s time to let go.

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These are the same trees I posted about 3 years ago. That year, the leaves turned bright red, before being tossed down like a red carpet overnight in a rain storm. This year, the leaves have been continuing to cling. Most are pretty shrivelled, some have lost most of their color. But in the angled morning light, I liked the way their mottled coloration looked like watercolor.

late fall show

The curtains have closed on the fall production put on by the big trees, but some of the smaller ones decided to put on their own show. Whoever was in charge of wardrobe design for this production sure picked some striking color combinations. I was also impressed by the lighting, which really brought out some of the technical details of the sets and choreography. I can’t wait to see what they can pull off next season.

briefly outlined

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We woke up to a bit of frost outside this morning.  As I started my walk with the dog, a number of leaves caught my eye, sparkling in the sunlight. I’ve found it hard to capture subtle sparkling with my iPhone camera (at least without spending more time playing with apps than the dog is comfortable waiting) so I can’t share share the sparkle. I did also appreciate the way in which many of the leaves on the ground were delicately outlined in white frost, giving them the appearance of an illustration.

I took a few photos of these frosty leaves as we started the walk, but as it was a bright sunny morning, the frost didn’t last long.

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