Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Nature asks nothing of us

I believe it will be my camera ripped from my cold, dead hand. Another beautiful day and I thought I'd just collect some more autumn pictures that didn't include a rant about my government.



I did not go back to Everett, the little crossroads where I took this picture two or three weeks ago. I used it in my header for a bit, but could not make the whole picture fit, so here it is again. I like the farm house peeking under the trees, the barn and outbuilding in the center and the trees predominating.

There are so many pictures and so many ways to organize them. Shuffling them between folders I noticed some places must be especial favorites of mine. 





Summer Fall Winter Spring, for want of a better caption.

The pond is on the golf course I pass daily, going to work, and this corner is a favorite. In the winter I see deer, in the spring, Canada geese. And golfers, three seasons of the year. When I turn the corner and drive along another side of the golf course I often see golfers, carts parked under the hemlocks, looking in the ditch for lost balls. The golf course is also a cautionary tale. The owner died unexpectedly, at an unreasonably young age (fifties), and intestate. No matter how young or how little you own your biggest gift to heirs is a tidy exit.




I took this picture last winter, to look at the bones of trees. Here is is again today, from the other direction, still looking over its road.

The rest of my round trip, down Quick road and back up Truxell. And remember, all our roads had first names. Quick road had the Quick family farm with acres and acres of orchards.




A farm pond. This pond is much bigger than the usual "dry hydrant" ponds around the township. These provide water for the fire department tankers in an emergency. This pond is so large it has a pump station. Sort of picturesque, but not really. See what I leave out!





And back up Truxell, past the golf course. Charles Truxell was a township trustee in the fifties and sixties. The last picture is an exercise I call "getting under the wire." I like taking pictures without the ubiquitous phone poles and wires, unless they add some dimension. In the farm pond picture they indicate a winding road beyond the fence. In this picture the wire is a distraction. Had I climbed the hill to put the wire behind me, there only would be a lens full of leaves. 

Like my new header. I pulled up this page to start typing, and see this is post 500. I'll be darned. 

32 comments:

  1. Thanks, Joanne. I won't see those exquisite Midwest places anytime soon. So I can enjoy them through your photos.

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  2. I really liked the 'header that wouldn't fit'..and I like the 'fit' version too. LOVE the comparison shots! Something I love about blogging is seeing the world others call home, through their eyes.
    Jane x

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  3. Congratulations on 500 posts. I'm slowly closing in on 500. You have posted a really lovely bunch of photos!

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  4. Love the fall colors, you are very good with that camera

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  5. I know a lot of golfers are not as fond of that pond as you are.

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  6. I like the way you see things & write about them Joanne.

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  7. You have some lovely colour there.

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  8. Thanks for the tour it looks like a very pretty and peaceful part of the world.
    Merle...............

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  9. I love the picture of the road with the autumn colors... had to make it larger to "feel" like I was actually there. Thanks.

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  10. Thank you for this gift this morning. And your favourite places would be mine too.
    Nature asks nothing of us - but deserves a whole lot better treatment than we provide.

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  12. Such a beautiful and refreshing series of photos, Joanne. I love your header, too!

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  13. Happy 500! WOO HOO! To celebrate, you should go out and take more photos!
    LOVE your header... I noticed it before I even saw you wrote about it! So pretty!

    "A tidy exit." Yes, I must get on that. I must... I must... before I'm must(y).

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  14. Hope there's many more posts to come...

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  15. They are all such beautiful fall pictures, Joanne. I especially liked the ones from Quick road.

    We expect fall to come our way this weekend. Yours was a nice preview.

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  16. They're beautiful photos. I love all the brilliant photos of autumn.

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  17. I know what you mean, trying to get pictures without all the high tension wires.

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  18. These are scenes you will never see in Hawaii. Nice to see fall colors.

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  19. wow joanne--you are making me long for a trip to the mountains nearby---gorgeous eye for life as usual!!

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  20. Love your pictures through the seasons - beautiful

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  21. I like the pictures, specially the Quick Road ones. And I really love your header. We don't get those red colours in native British trees.

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  22. Such beauty in nature. I love to view places through the different seasons, especially mountains and waterways. Fall is particularly nice for photo taking.

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  23. Post 500! And we're all the better for it. Keep on keeping on, pics and all. We love you, Dahling!

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  24. Hari OM
    Can't beat those all-seasons on the spot photos. Lovey indeed! If I had to pick one of these though, it would be the duck pond with that wonderful white fence. But thanks for not making us do that!!! YAM xx

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  25. Beautiful foliage. I thought the photo you used temporarily for your header was your property! Assume - makes an "ass" out of "me" without the "u" this time :)

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    1. They're all mine; good, bad, indifferent. The farm one was just too long and I couldn't figure out how to save it as say, 5x7 instead of 8x10. So much of this stuff just escapes me.

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    2. Oh, what I wrote was confusing - I meant I thought the actual farm (not the photo of it) was yours, but I gathered from this post that it isn't.

      As for stuff escaping you, I don't think there's too many things do that, my friend! I think your photography is very good, and your computer skills not far behind. Congratulations on your 500th post; that's quite a milestone.

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    3. Oh, that property. Actually, I don't even wish for it. What upkeep. Can you imagine painting the barns.
      The property is an old home/farmstead, and now belongs to the National Park.

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  26. Great colors in your header. Liked all your tours to and from work and the asides of history. Wondered if the Quick orchards are still there? Nice post. -- barbara

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    1. The orchards were there in my 40's-50's childhood. They now are a very large school complex for one of the school districts, Woodridge Schools. The elementary, middle and high schools are there, with room to build more and move the intermediate grades to the grounds.

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  27. Gorgeous area you live in, Joanne. I like the season pictures of that area around the lake; I can see why you would enjoy taking pictures of such a scenic spot. I know I have lots of sunset pictures from the area we walk Koda at.

    Good advice about leaving a tidy exit; people think they have all the time in the world, and really no one of us know how long we have.

    betty

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  28. What lovely fall colors!

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