Fall Beauty, 2013

1 more picture above in a note! Before I found the beautiful red Chapparrel Honeysuckle berries, I found an unusual tree, not common on our property. The overwhelming majority of trees on our property are White Oaks, with Manzanitas next, then White Oaks, Madrones, a couple of Pine species, and a few others. This would fit under the "few others" category. I think it's an Ash but I can't be certain. I thought this leaf with the stem shadow was quite beautiful!

12, yes TWELVE pictures inset above! I gathered together all my pictures of "caught leaves" for you to see! ENJOY THE SHOW!! :D When you start looking at fallen leaves as "leaf-shaped flowers", it's more fun than ever to find pretty ones to take pictures of! I also love to find leaves caught on the way down to the ground, snagged in weeds or a bush or whatever. Have you ever challenged yourself to find leaves that are caught AND positioned for an unobstructed picture?! It's really fun and if you can find one, it's so rewarding! I enjoyed walking around the area where these were falling and after about 5 minutes of careful searching, I found this one!! Honestly, when I find a leaf sitting like this, it's hard to believe it wasn't purposely placed there! And you know what? Even though it seems so unlikely, these leaves are not too hard to find if you look carefully. Try it yourself and share your discovery with us! :)

This leaf was with a few others which were beginning to show their fall colors. I am a hopeless junkie for pretty leaves like these--they really are like leaf "flowers" to me! :) Thanks to Pam and Art for letting me know that this is a terrible malady in roses. A shame, it's so beautiful!!! I'm thinking that I may try to get pretty fall leaves from all the different plants I can this fall, it would be a fun project if I can fit it into my schedule! :)

1 more picture + 2 text notes in notes above! :) Fall is arriving!! Day by day, I am beginning to see the trees slowly change color as the leaves die and drop from their lofty homes. It is an amazing time for me, as are all the 4 distinct seasons we have here in southern Oregon. I was born and raised in San Francisco and it is known for having a similar temperature range year-round. There are no distinct seasons, so one of the things I really wanted was to live in a place where I could experience all four seasons. Fall is incredible to me, and I always think of the quote by Albert Camus, "Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." It is so absolutely true. I lose my mind with all of the beautiful leaves, they are incredible!! And so, today I am sharing another beautiful "autumn flower" from an Oak tree, complete with a Wasp Gall! :) John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921) was an American naturalist and essayist important in the evolution of the U.S. conservation movement. According to biographers at the American Memory project at the Library of Congress, John Burroughs was the most important practitioner after Henry David Thoreau of that especially American literary genre, the nature essay. By the turn of the 20th century he had become a virtual cultural institution in his own right: the Grand Old Man of Nature at a time when the American romance with the idea of nature, and the American conservation movement, had come fully into their own. His extraordinary popularity and popular visibility were sustained by a prolific stream of essay collections, beginning with Wake-Robin in 1871. Wikipedia: John Burroughs Explored on September 16, 2013. Highest placement, page 5.

5 more pictures in notes above! ENJOY THE FLOWER SHOW!!! :D Today Steve and I needed to go into Medford for some shopping and other errands, and I brought my camera along for a change of scenery! Everywhere we went, I wandered around outside taking pictures. It was a lot of fun! In fact, I got too many pictures to process today, but I did finish 6 to share! My biggest treasure trove was just inside the doorway to a store called Trader Joe's, where they had many beautiful Strawflowers for sale. Though the light was bad, I managed to get a bunch of really pretty images! However, my pick of the day was found at one of our first stops. Steve needed to go into a bike shop for some parts, so I enjoyed myself looking for interesting things to take pictures of outside. I found a perfect orb web on a bush but was so bummed because the spider wasn't there! *tears* I found a neon green leafhopper that was so cute, but too small and far away to get a proper picture of. I found a tree with a huge eye on it (which I'll try to process!), and then I went around the side of the store and found interesting berries in different stages of development, and under them... I found the leaves you see above! The second I saw them I got excited because I knew they would look fantastic as a picture! (Thank you so much to Alida Maspero for identifying these leaves as coming from the Nandina plant, otherwise known as "Heavenly Bamboo", though it is not actually related to bamboo!) When I got home and started working on this picture, all I needed to do was select the leaves, which were already on a very dark background, place them on a new layer, make a black background, and add a bit of my standard sharpening filters to the leaves and a touch of saturation to match what I saw, and PRESTO! My Picture of the Day!! :D Helen Maria Hunt Jackson, born Helen Fiske (October 15, 1830 – August 12, 1885), was a United States poet and writer who became an activist on behalf of improved treatment of Native Americans by the U.S. government. She detailed the adverse effects of government actions in her history A Century of Dishonor (1881). Her novel Ramona dramatized the federal government's mistreatment of Native Americans in Southern California and attracted considerable attention to her cause,[1][2] although its popularity was based on its romantic and picturesque qualities rather than its political content. It was estimated to have been reprinted 300 times, and contributed to the growth of tourism in Southern California. Wikipedia: Helen Hunt Jackson Explored on September 8, 2013. Highest placement, page 3.

Walking around our lower forest, I enjoyed looking at the twinkling droplets everywhere. Then I saw these droplets in this lichen and had to stop to take pictures! When I looked at them on my computer, I was delighted to find refractions of a manzanita tree in front of it! :D

Walking along the path that travels around our lower forest, I looked down and did a double-take when I saw this odd-looking shape on the ground. I was amazed when I realized it was an acorn! How beautiful decay can be! I decided to bring this acorn home so that I can put it on a spindle and take pictures all the way around it. When I got home, I took it out so Steve could see it, but by that time it had gotten dry and looked like a normal acorn with little holes! So I put it under the faucet and like magic, the beautiful acorn reappeared! SO COOL!! I'll be creating this special animated gif file in the next week or so when I have some time to fool around with this project! :)

1 more picture above in a note! :) I thought it would be nice to show a closer view of this lovely wasp gall. I have many pictures of these and never tire of taking more, as each one is different and so interesting to look at! I was fascinated by the amber-colored droplets and imagine that something about the gall is coloring the water.

3 more pictures in notes above! :) I awoke to the sound of rain pattering upon the windows and the fresh smell of a world washed clean drifted inside through the crack. As soon as there was a break in the storm, I got my camera and escaped out into the beautiful fall day. The world glistened around me and as I left for my walk, I hid my camera in my sweater because the droplets were still coming down, but only in a light drizzle. "Ohhhh, little mushrooms...where are you?!! I crept from log to log, and checked the moss in the trees, but it's still too early...or perhaps my little friends are hiding too well and giggling too quietly for me to hear them. That's ok, I can wait. Today I was simply dazzled by the first truly wet day of the season! The world was drenched and dripping everywhere, and it was really wonderful to get the chance to enjoy looking at droplets and moist leaves, and hear the sound of dripping and the happy songs of the birds in the trees. I found several trees with mossy bottoms that were quite torn up, and realized that mule deer bucks must have been rubbing their antlers there. Looking up, I saw the apple-sized wasp gall in the image above and was delighted to see it covered with droplets. In fact, the gall was shedding color, as some of the droplets looked like liquid amber! What a perfect Pick of the Day! :) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. He was also the first American to translate Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy and was one of the five Fireside Poets. Wikipedia: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow