Merry Christmas

Through the years
we all will be together
If the fates allow
Hang a shining star
     upon the highest bow
And have yourself a
     Merry Little Christmas now.
From Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
                lyrics by Ralph Blane

Winter wonderland

Sleigh bells ring
Are you listening
In the lane
Snow is glistening
A beautiful sight
We're happy tonight
Walking in a winter wonderland.
From Winter Wonderland
          by Richard B. Smith

November morning

"I like spring, but it is too young.  I like summer, but it is too proud.  So I like best of all autumn, because its tone is mellower, its colours are richer, and it is tinged with a little sorrow.  Its golden richness speaks not of the innocence of spring, nor the power of summer, but of the mellowness and kindly wisdom of approaching age.  It knows the limitations of life and is content."

Lin Yutang

The end of autumn

Tomorrow is not the first day of winter, but if the forecast is correct it will be the first winter day.  I have enjoyed finding the beauty in my yard throughout the fall.  Here are a few recent shots.

 

A rosebud! in November!

I planted this alyssum in spring.  It did nothing all summer but is blooming now!

"Yet one smile more, departing, distant sun! ...
Yet one rich smile, and we will try to bear
That piercing winter frost, and winds, and darkened air."
from Autumn
       by William Cullen Bryant

Autumn colour

There is no season quite like autumn for being outdoors with the camera.  Everywhere you look colour abounds.  The greatest danger is sensory overload.  There is so much to see that's it's easy to become overwhelmed by it.

"A few days ago I walked along the edge of the lake and was treated to the crunch and rustle of each step I made.  The acoustics of this season are different and all sounds, no matter how hushed, are as crisp as autumn air."
Eric Sloane

Autumn leaves

I have saved my photos of autumn leaves for today.

 

And now for some artistic fun:

"The winds will blow their own freshness into you,

and the storms their energy,

while cares will drop away from you

like the leaves of autumn."

John Muir

Creepy crawlies

Every once in a while a creepy crawlie finds its way to the front of my lens.  I saved a few of them over the summer just for today.

A spider on my camera bag

Happy Halloween everyone.

Cool weather

October's chilly days are offering up some new photo opportunities.  The possibilities each morning are only limited by how quickly my fingers freeze.

The leaves fall, the wind blows, the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools.

Henry Beston

Autumn

"Everyone must take the time to sit and watch the leaves turn."  Elizabeth Lawrence

Sunrise

When I first began this photography hobby, I was outside every morning and every evening trying to catch beautiful sunrises and sunsets.  This summer I was not out once to photograph a sunrise, and only rarely a sunset.  I can't decide ... am I getting lazy, or am I just finding too many other subjects.  Maybe a little of both?

Opportunities are like sunrises. If you wait too long you miss them.

William Arthur Ward

Sweat peas

These little flowers just keep blooming despite the frost.  Besides beautiful, there's only one word for them - Hardy!

Here are sweat peas, on tip-toe for flight;
With wings of gentle flush o'er delicate white,
And tapered fingers catching at all things,
To bind them all about with tiny rings.
John Keats

Harvest end

The last of the soybeans, means the end of another year's harvest.

          When the year from fruitful labours turn to rest...
          Founts of warmth and comfort in my being flow.
          And I little reck that winter will come soon.

C. B. Galbreath

City Garden

A few days ago I visited this garden.  I had gone with the intention of photographing fall foliage.  I was stunned by the glory and colours of the fall gardens.  The next night the temperatures dipped below freezing and I'm sure much of this loveliness was gone.  I am thankful for this place and the few hours I spent there.  My mind is buzzing - trying to imagine what these plants would look like in my small space.

 

 

 

   

 

 

"In the garden, Autumn is, indeed the crowning glory of the year, bringing us the fruition of months of thought, and care and toil.  And at no season, safe perhaps at daffodil time, do we get such superb color effects as from August to November."

Rose G. Kingsley

Old stuff

Just hanging around with some old stuff.

"Photography to me is catching a moment which is passing, and which is true."

               Jacques-Henri Lartique