autumn arrived yesterday

It finally felt like serious autumn yesterday. I woke up at 430 to a power outage which came back on around 6am. It was raining when I went downstairs, pulling my old flannel shirt close around me in the chilly house.
I opened the slider and stood in the door way listening to the rain patterning thru the leaves and smelling the wonderful freshness of it.
The rain kept up most of the day, much to the disgust of the dog who hates to get wet when she piddles. Much dithering under the patio, then a dash to what she perceives is a drier part of the soggy back yard, a quick squat, and zoom back into the house, to her pillow on the couch.
The rain didn't deter the patio birds much. I put seed out when I saw them in the trees and damp doves and bedraggled sparrows came swooping in for breakfast. Oddly, the feisty jays were dry. Wonder what their trick is.
I love rainy days and spent most of yesterday at home, bundled up a bit so I could have the slider open. It never got above 60 degrees and I often found myself just standing at the door, feeling like I was back in Michigan on a typical autumn day. It was wonderful.

I like autumn

Autumn was my mom's favorite season, and as a kid, I thought she was nuts. Who doesn't love summer? No school, play all day, hot summer nights with the boys. Ah, those were the days. 

But as I got older I developed a real appreciation for fall. The cooler weather is nice, the trees are lovely (even here in N California), I like the flowers of autumn. Even the darker mornings and earlier evenings are ok, giving me the urge to bake and cook more since I can't be out in the garden.

This morning I decided to decorate a bit and dug the autumn boxes out of the attic. I gave up the decorating for seasons thing years ago. Just lost the oomph to get it out, put it away, etc. But I enjoyed looking at things I hadn't had out in a couple years, and did the mantle and fireplace area, which is sort of the only place I have to decorate. We pretty much live in the kitchen and family room, so the effort is wasted anywhere else.

The full view.

I made all the pumpkins years ago with my friend Moneka.
Those curly willow branches live in the huge Mason jar all year. 

Most of this stuff was on the mantle until I moved it down here just now.
I like the look so maybe it'll just stay there thru the holidays.

A small collage I made a couple years ago.
The lace on the bottom is from an ancient shawl I bought
30 years ago and have been hauling around ever since.

My husband made the clock and the wooden box is vintage.
Not sure what it was before I bought it but I love it.
The green 9 drawer chest behind it is another favorite piece.

leaves

2011 was a wonderful autumn here in Tracy. The leaves turned marvelous colors and stayed on the trees forever, so there was lots of opportunity for good pics. But, um... now that I'm looking at the pics I'd planned on posting, only one of them is leaves from trees. The others are vines or shrubs. Ah, well - it was a good year for those too.

Maggie scouting the way ahead. The leaves got so deep on this street between city pickups that we were wading
thru knee deep drifts about a week after this was taken. I love this street. There are no houses on it, just the walls
of everyone's back yards, so it's very peaceful to walk down.

Spectacular ivy along one of the walls of the street above. It was positively glowing in the morning sun.

The contrast of the bright green new ivy and the fallen maroon tree leaves caught my eye. Nature is just amazing.

Ivy with frost. I rounded the corner into the little park one cold morning and all the ivy still in the shade of the wall
had this great rime of frost. All I had with me was my cell phone and I was thrilled to see that I'd gotten two great
shots. 

Close up of the frosty ivy. Took me 5 tries to get this shot because every time I squatted down, the dog thought I wanted her to come to me. Finally had to make her 'sit' and 'stay' a few feet away. Thank god for those dog training
classes.

two roads

two roads diverged in a yellow wood

and sorry I could not travel both 

and be one traveler, long I stood 

and looked down one as far as I could

to where it bent in the undergrowth

...Robert Frost

There's more and it's one of the first poems I ever memorized, mostly because my mother loved it and passed that love along to me. I suppose most people look back on their lives at various points and think about those roads not taken. It does make you wonder, doesn't it?

She also loved autumn, as do I, and every year around this time, I get nostalgic for the autumns of my childhood. Long hikes in the woods with my cousin and a dog or two, hot chocolate made with milk and Hershey's cocoa, kicking leaves in the gutter walking home from school.

I saw the background picture of the autumn woods when looking thru a magazine for a turkey. An hour later, the turkey was long forgotten and this was finished. Tough to get a good pic with the reflection from the glass. On the left is another woods image, sideways so that the trunks echo the horizontal lines of the words, layered over a thin strip of brown polka dot paper. 

On the right, I used the packing tape transfer method for the words - works like a charm, who knew? Beneath them is several torn layers of the Starbucks bag that my scone came in a couple weeks ago. I crumpled it, lightly rubbed a brown ink pad over it, then darkened the edges a bit.

the road not taken