I love autumn months.

I love the slight chill in the air,

the smell of burning wood

and the sight of golden leaves 

littering the ground.

I love long sleeve t-shirts

made of soft cotton

and socks and real shoes.

Not those flipflops

that scream of

summer.

I love hot chocolate

with mini marshmallows

floating on top

and sweet potato casserole

with its marshmallow topping darkened

by the warmth of the oven.

I love hearing the crunch of leaves

as I walk through the woods

and seeing how they swirl and dance

in the breeze as they

pirouette to the earth.

Sometimes

there are leaves

with kamikazi attitudes.

Darting toward

my windshield

with reckless abandon.

I love early nightfall

and how it practically demands

that I settle in early for the night.

With lights shining through windows

and dogs curled up at my feet.

 Food baking in the oven
steam rising off the river.

Fall
Autumn
Colorful world
at my fingertips

Listening

As I sit in my studio typing, I hear a mixture of sounds. My daughter's music plays in the room beside me while the crispy sounds of leaves rustle in the wind outside my window.

Summer turned into autumn today. Just like that, in what seemed like a blink of an eye, the temperature cooled down and leaves began to hurl themselves downward like kamikazi pilots. The leaves here are not the fiery shades of fall, yet. But the lushness of the greens are losing out bit by bit to the yellows, which will soon turn into the oranges and the reds of the season.

I've been thinking a lot lately. Maybe too much or maybe not enough. But my thoughts keep turning towards life and what we make of it. For some (me included), we spend our days working and doing and sleeping just to get up and do it all over again. Others somehow know how to balance their time better, so they can enjoy the moments so much more.

That's what I want to do. Balance my time and enjoy the moments more. That's the plan anyway. One day. Soon. 

A Paparazzi Moment

I felt just like the paparazzi. With camera in hand, I would peek through the window, hoping to get just the right shot. Some of the pictures were taken through the wooden slats of the blinds. At other times, I nudged the door open and swiftly sprang forward hoping to capture exactly what I was looking for. But to no avail. The shot just wasn't there.

My eyes were seeing, perhaps envisioning, the perfect shot. The way the light played over intertwined limbs. The soft, almost imperceptible glow that lingered even though the rain was falling softly all around. But I couldn't quite capture it.

Finally, the soft mist cleared away and I knew (I knew) the shot was mine! A shot that would fill the front pages of tabloids, er computer screens, from one side of the globe to the other.

... well, at least in my blogosphere.

And, here it is...

A shot that I was intent on capturing... See how the light played on intertwined limbs? How that imperceptible glow was shining through?

I think I was trying to be Octamom. I wanted my camera to catch what my eyes were seeing. Right then. Right there. On the rainy days of Thanksgiving, the leaves on these trees had such a beautiful glow on and through them that I was determined (determined) to capture it on film. I knew Octamom could do it. But my camera kept failing me! I tried natural light, forced flash, automatic flash. I played with the f-stop (I think), but I still couldn't capture what I was seeing.

So, I had to wait. And finally, when the sun was shining just a bit brighter, I stepped onto my porch, one more time, to try to capture the beauty that God brings to us each and every day. And I felt like I had finally caught it. A photograph days in the making was finally mine. At least... almost. I still don't think I totally, totally, caught the beauty I had been stalking. But, it's close.

Telephoto Tuesday

While many of you were enjoying the feeling of Autumn several weeks ago, the season of colorful leaves and crisp, cool weather was, as usual, slow to arrive in my home state. Yet, suddenly, there it was. Fall! The cool weather lured me outside and to the nearby river where I caught the light and its shadows dancing among the silvery ripples.