It Starts With Z

In grandmother's garden there were always Zinnias.  Mostly tall and waving in the fall breezes.  I have not had such luck a my rabbits love baby zinnias in spring and early summer and eat them down to the ground.  This year I had a Great Horned Owl which made all the difference!  The nights get down into the 40s F but my zinnias still hang around to feed the insects.

The Way Forward

Sometimes the way forward is just too seductive and beautiful to ignore.

The Party Hour

I am an introvert.  I find that wedding parties can be fun if taken in small doses.  So, in the middle of the reception in the barn at the farm, I notice the sun is setting.  I quietly excuse myself and grab my small camera as I rush down the stairs and past the lower dairy room which just minutes ago had been filled with wedding guests drinking and eating orderves.

I rush to the field at the back, where sheep and one horse are calmly stuffing their tummies before the end of the fall day.  The cool front which collided with Hurricane Matthew has made the meadows green again so late in the summer.

I turn to the road where the sunset is just beginning to paint everything golden.

And while the guests back at the barn have not started their dancing, I notice that the grasses are busy doing their head bobbing just across the road.  He guys, the party is out here.

Double shot

Double shot...an accident.

After Storm

We are awaiting another hurricane.  The odds are in our favor that it will at least push by us if not resulting in a complete smash-up.  We have a really busy weekend and will be out of town on Sunday through the next week.  We just finished about 3 days of gray skies and rain leaving behind almost 5 inches of water.  The plants are loving it as are the mushrooms.

So I walked out into the squishy moss and over the spongey grass and took some photos.

This is the time of year that the grand oaks throw down their nuts for the deer and squirrels as fall closes in.

And I stepped back to get better focus I almost stepped on this little lady.  She also was coming out after the storm had ended.

"Orenge" You Glad It's Fall?

Plastic plates orange in color in a plastic red bucket with the sun shining through.

Orange...the word that poets never use when trying to rhyme.

Orange...the color that few people can carry off in a clothing theme.

Orange...the color that is used when on the roadside so that a driver will not hit you.

Christmas tree lights through a heart filter and given an orange hue.

I do not ever remember anyone saying it is their favorite color.  But it is the color fire in the cold.  It is the color of the setting sun at the end of a day.  It is the color of that juicy fruit.  Before the 15th century the color existed in Europe without a name.  Then when Portuguese merchants brought the first orange trees to Europe from Asia along with the Sanskrit term naranga, the name for the color of the fruit became the name for the color.  It evolved from the Old French orenge from pomme d'orenge.

I love fall because of all the shades of orange.

This zinnia was the only one with such an orange color and only one flower has blossomed all summer from the plant.  I love the peachy color.

I finally saw only ONE monarch in my yard.  They fly through at the end of September and cross the Chesapeake Bay a few miles from me in early October on their way south.  I did see more up in the Smithsonian gardens in Washington, DC and that gave me hope.  They are the perfect orange color.

Above a photo-painting of my orange cosmos which I photograph endlessly as it bobs in the breezes.

None of our trees have faded to orange, but this tulip tree leaf came a little closer than most.

I do love the warm and snuggly colors of fall as the air gets cooler and orange gets to take center stage.