Thanksgiving Day

Funny how yesterday, Thanksgiving Day, started--cold, wet and windy. It was the kind of day that drove me to climb the stairs in my house for a mile rather than to do my more normal morning walk. But by the afternoon . . . well, as you can see, it was mostly sunny with temperatures in the low 60s. Very comfortable.

Linking again today with Skywatch Friday.

Sycamore

 

 

Nature's pointillism.

Randolph House

Every fall, I enjoy capturing on camera this oak at the corner of the Peyton Randolph House (built around 1715). Some years it turns brilliant yellow. Other years, like this one, it appears just a little bit more subdued. Still, it's lovely, and provides lots of welcome shade in an otherwise exposed space across from the courthouse commons.

The photo I wish I could show you today, though, is one I didn't think about until too late! That was when I spotted a man yesterday driving through town waving a red Trump hat and shouting how the messiah had come. I kid you not. I flipped him the bird when what I should have done, had I had the presence of mind to do so, was to snap a picture. Next time you can be sure that I'll be ready! 

Reminded me of the time just days after Trump's first successful election when I was in D.C. and witnessed members of an ultra-right wing nationalist party pouring out onto the streets after attending a celebratory luncheon and beating up members of an ultra-left wing demonstrators until D.C. police intervened. I'm afraid this election will almost certainly presage other such acts of violence. 

• "Don't agonize, organize." -- Nancy Pelosi

My Apologies!

I have to apologize for the outcome of yesterday's election. I don't know what has become of the American people to return a convicted felon and adjudicated sexual predator to the highest office in the land. It's inexplicable! It's like there is a madness that has overtaken a significant portion of our population. The coming years are going to be tough. So we are all going to have to be extremely brave and fight every day for what we know is right, and good, and true. 

Another World

Taskinas Creek Trail

York River State Park

There's been a good deal said as of late here in the United States about what helps keep people sane during what has been an extraordinarily fractious presidential campaign. For me, it's long walks, especially in the woods. I relish these moments, especially as I will be pretty much in the thick of things as I go to work the polls on Election Day from five o-clock in the morning until--well, until all the votes in that precinct are counted, no matter how long that may take. I think it was the last presidential election when I didn't get back home until the wee hours of the next morning. 

I know none of my blogger friends would dream of cursing or abusing election officials. But every election there are some who do so. All we can do in response is just to smile and thank them for voting. It's in moments like those that I it helps, I think, to remember that there's another world out there filled with wonder and beauty, waiting to be enjoyed.

Light

Taskinas Creek Trail

York River State Park

Late afternoon. Sunlight still stealing its way through breaks in the forest cover. Pools of light gathering on the forest floor. My favorite time to be in the woods.

Gnarly

Taskinas Creek Trail

York River State Park

My old favorite.

Laurel & Pine

Taskinas Creek Trail

York River State Park

Mountain Laurel and Eastern White Pine are, for me, kind of like Rosemary & Thyme, Simon & Garfunkel, or maybe Sonny & Cher (Oops! I guess that last one didn't last). :-)

Waters Edge

Taskinas Creek Trail

York River State Park

Taskinas Creek Trail

Returned yesterday to the Taskinas Creek Trail in York River State Park, a wonderful place to observe wildlife. Just in the time it took the Washington Commanders to score about 20-points in their Sunday afternoon game with the Carolina Panthers, I heard and/or saw Great Blue Herons, Pileated Woodpeckers, White-tailed Deer, Barred Owls, Red-shouldered Hawks and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, not to mention the leaves of various deciduous trees just now beginning to show their fall colors. 

Memo

Always, ALWAYS, it's the maple trees that get the memo early. :-)

Experiment

More of an experiment than anything else. I wanted to see if I could somehow capture the sunlight streaming through this maple leaf I spotted while walking the Virginia Capital Trail near Greensprings. I was using an Apple iPhone 13 (ISO 50 - 48mm - f1.6 - 1/1992 s).

Hickory Nut

York River State Park

Forest

York River State Park

Roots

York River State Park

Fall

I don't think I've ever looked forward to meteorological fall more than after this past summer. Whew! Hoping we all can get a handle on global warming sooner rather than later. We owe it to ourselves as well as to the planet.

Fir Tree

Frelinghuysen Arboretum

Morristown, New Jersey

Magnolia

Frelinghuysen Arboretum

Morristown, New Jersey

Japanese Maple

Frelinghuysen Arboretum

Morristown, New Jersey

Ginkgo

Smith College Arboretum

Northampton, Massachusetts