It would appear that I will not get tired of fall leaves or water drops, or especially fall leaves with water drops. Today’s featured leaf had subtle color variations and fascinating patterns. I also like how the leaf’s vein patterns show through the water drops to make some of the water drops look like little brains.
This has been a spectacularly spectacular fall here in Massachusetts. Every day, more stunning trees and gorgeous fallen leaves compete for my attention. Here are a few leaves I saw today that practically begged me to take their photo.
I loved the way these various leaves had arranged themselves on the driveway for a photoshoot.
This perky little guy stretched out in the shrubbery, the better to show off its striking flame colors against the dark green.
Just look at these two sweethearts, nestled together, and showing off their jagged lines and patchwork outfits. (And I can’t be the only one to see the heart shape in the top leaf.)
This elegant pair is showing off the classic New England maple style: deep red with subtle color variation.
And this one? So obviously just showing off. Can one leaf really get away with wearing so many different colors?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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!
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.
collecting tokens 