post-Thanksgiving post

post #313
       Not able to let this season go. Still wondering if I should have had my small field bush-hogged this fall or whether a spring mow will catch the encroaching woods in time. Loved the huge moon week, especially driving all the way back from Lexington in the light of its glory. Knowing next weekend is the annual Arts and Crafts Fair at Morehead State University, where I have shared a booth with the very talented and fun Jennifer Reis for years -- but not this year since I continue to work on my major move which has brought on a total review of everything I own, saved, or didn't know I had.  This is good. This takes a lot of time. This needed to happen. Anyway, I plan to go to the Fair, and I encourage everyone within range to go see what's showing. I hear that more artists/crafters than ever before applied to take part this year.  9-4, Saturday, at the Laughlin Health Building on the MSU campus. Tell Jennifer I encouraged you to go to the Fair to check out her art jewelry and knitted items!
       I know I said that last week's photos were the last fall ones for this year, but then I saw what I saw. ... So the photos today are from this past week.  The first ones are from our pond, and the dog is my daughter's:
 

Who cares if the pond is chilly??!! A pond is a pond is a pond!

same reflection from two vantage points on the dam for the pond:

During a walk near to where I am now living:

I could barely see the mist with my bare eyes, but it was brief in any case. 

SIDEWAY GALLERY -- my Gallery/home from across the road. I am so fortunate to have found this place five years ago, so close to where I lived until this fall.

 Then there was the walk in the woods while the Thanksgiving turkey was cooking:

Lots to be grateful for, lots to wonder at, and lots to look for if we pay attention. I want to give special thanks for all the friends nearby who have been helping me so far in this physical changing of places I've been experiencing -- Doug and Karen, Ann S., Molly, George Ella, Melva, and, this Thursday, Bob and Carolyn -- and especially Rebecca, Jeremey and T., whose patience and steady assistance have made it all possible. More on all this later - it is not over yet!  See you at the Fair, Saturday.

hay rows and sycamores

post #312
        After posting last week's blog, it occurred to me how much I love that sycamore tree, almost as much as I love watching hay rows take shape on their way to being bales or rounds.  So this week I am going to pull more photos of these "themes" in my work, and see what shape I can give them by doing so.

our field, in progress

a nearby field, finished

 Then here are four different perspectives from the field I showed last week:

curving rows and road

Sycamore, more or less by the season:

        Maybe more another time, but this is a busy week - still processing the election, looking forward to Thanksgiving this year with my son-in-law as super chef, and appreciating all the help I am getting while I continue to move in  --- while giving away as much stuff as possible, including books.  Today I will say just one thing about Donald Trump -- there is one lie he was making that I hope he didn't believe at all. He proclaimed that he would win, but in the meantime he made no effort whatsoever to be prepared when he did win!  If he really did think he would win, and this is the amount of preparation he made, we are in for a lot of trouble just on organization alone. Instead there's not much forethought, and certainly no creative use of America's talent in the choosing of cabinet members. I for one don't see any worth in having a cabinet of only angry white men. All those egos will be fighting for dominance, and not for us citizens. I'd shudder even if I were just a fly on the wall. 
         Sycamores and hay rows bring me a feeling of some kind of harmony in the world. I hope everyone has such delights in the world he or she notices each day.

last of the autumn photos from Mauk Ridge

post #311
      It sounds like winter chill might arrive later this week.  I do have some photos of fall left -- the ones on my iPhone (6s) -- and sharing them seems as good a way as any to close out the season in the spirit of the political upheaval we've had from Tuesday's election. Big changes ahead, and big coming to grips with reality.

       So here goes! The first photo shows my friend Melva who came to help me get ready for the move.  We took a hike break since she had never before been to the big waterfall. The creek on the way there was dry, and still is, actually.  All of eastern Kentucky needs rain even more than I needed Melva's help -- which was a lot!

Asters and leaves:

        There were not many signs up along our road, so I decided to get one for Hillary -- I had to do it while in Lexington.  The sign stayed there until the night before the election.  For the first time in 144 years, my county didn't vote for the Democratic presidential candidate.  But they did vote Democratic for the US Senate race, one of 7 counties in Kentucky to do so.

Two photos made at the pond:

Looking west from our drive way:

 
        I am going to end with three photos of the season that I have not yet been able to share on this blog. As I have written earlier, we have not the usual spectacular fall display, but there is beauty none the less. And the Hallowe'en tradition by Eddie and Darlene:

this year's showy sycamore

         This last photo is a favorite view of the season: hilly rows of hay curing.  I appreciate it this year as something that happens annually, saying something about how much we depend on this farming and caring for the land. It literally grounds me. I just can't help thinking that this election's turmoil will somehow take its place in the flow of things. However, as someone who despaired at the enormous number of lies Trump threw around so irresponsibly, I do think many Americans are going to be pretty disappointed by some of the realities ahead, no matter what was promised. I know in the same way I will be severely disappointed if we choose to look backward for greatness instead of looking ahead. 
         I hope we will start by listening to each other as much as we can. I know I will have more to say because we all have to pay attention to what is really happening around us, but this is enough for now as we all get ready to welcome winter in the weeks to come.

Beech trees -- autumn's parting glory in eastern Kentucky

post # 310 
          This fall Appalachia has not had as much vibrant color as usual. We're inclined to attribute that to the dry weather we have had for weeks and weeks. HOWEVER, Friday, totally by chance, I had made plans with my photo friend Debbie and her husband to introduce him to our waterfalls, and we were treated to great light and lovely color! The beech trees were making up for everything else. Debbie and I had our cameras, of course, and it was all so unexpected and amazing. Every photo on this post today was made during one mostly cloudy mid morning walk and talk and ooh and awe.  Enjoy!

These first three images were right at the beginning of our walk. What a welcome to the woods!

   Next: two views along the creek of the deer skull that I have shared in an earlier post this year. I think I adjusted the settings on my camera in between these two shots, so I include them both.

       Despite some light rain the day before, there was very little water in the creek and none coming over any of the falls. However, the dampness of the leaves provided a rich and reassuring aroma.

I am standing at the top of what we call simply the second waterfall, though it has several levels.

       Next is the third waterfall, though again without water at the moment, except at the base. The woods here have plants all year round that are native and undisturbed. We call this area the big waterfall.

       I wasn't sure this photo would work, because of the sun breaking through, but for some reason it worked just fine. A major happiness.

My daughter and granddaughter, age 5, had joined us by now, and they decided to explore the facing hillside. (The big waterfall is to my right, and I have shown other photos of it over the five years of doing this blog.)  I love catching that bit of red.

    I didn't take many photos, but I hope you enjoy seeing here most of the ones I did. I loved being there with Debbie and Bob, and doing the extra seeing that one does with a camera.