The Eternal Turning

"The grand show is eternal. It is always all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on seas and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls." ---John Muir 

Below is a collection of sunrises and sunsets taken at my house during the month of December. (Always camera ready am I.)

And the last a digital painting with the corner of the house left intact.

Breaking Dawn

Breaking dawn. The storm retreats and leaves behind the whisper of the golden light of a new day as if making room for the big fat sun. Only Mother Nature can create such a lovely painting.  Today is my birthday, and since I need nothing and have asked for nothing, this is the best gift I received.

When the Snow is Gone

I spend time moving digital elements around and paint the leftovers when the sun is done kissing the sides of trees.

Yes, this is lovely but I cannot just "leaf" it alone.

Clarity

The white sun is up but bringing little warmth to the day. Most of the snow has melted causing the foot patterns of exploratory deer and fox to disappear.  

I am sitting finishing my second cup of coffee and hearing the "scree" "scree" call of one of the local Blue Jays outside on my deck.  He is complaining because I have not filled the small plate outside with seeds and nuts.  The bird feeders are full, but he is lazy and likes to gulp down his food.  He comes to the window and complains even more.  Often they mimic the call of the hawk to make the other birds fly away from the feeders.  They fool even me as I look to the tree to see the hawk.

They are loyal and mate for life.

I put on clogs and take the small cereal container filled with peanuts and sunflower seeds and scatter them on the platform.  Soon his buddies show up and surprisingly they eat without the usual shoving and threatening behavior.  These birds rarely leave space for others.  They are bullies.

"In the spiritual realm, the blue jay speaks of clarity and vision. In Native American symbolism (namely the Sioux Nation) the azure of the jay against the blue sky indicated a “double vision” or double clarity. This visual/spiritual “blue on blue” concept speaks of purity of the soul, truth of the heart, and clarity of thought."  That is my challenge for today.  

Just in Time

We were first told to expect no snow. 

Then we were told we were on the edge. 
(How did they know?) 
We saw the first white as we left the city

Then it came in big fat wet kisses.

Then it came in thin white scarves.

Then it came in full force as we arrived home, safely.

Winter has, at last, arrived.

Encore

Ninety percent of the leaves have let go of their mother tree and fallen twisting and turning to the ground below. The last ones hang and dance as if no one is watching. The trees become mystical guardians in the fog.  The evergreens become dwarf-like gnomes.

As the light changes the scene glows in burnished bronze hues making the day seem warmer than it is.

My lawn is carpeted in a copper crunch, nature's version of peanut brittle? This is the long-awaited encore of that show called autumn.