The underbelly of fall

These trees in my back yard cannot make their minds up. I’m ready for some nice fall colors and these ungrateful giants come forth with pale green and crummy brown. It’s a sign of pseudo-fall.

On this, a severely overcast, muggy pseudo-fall day (November 1, 20115), being stir crazy, I had an uncontrollable urge to photograph something and then whack out a few word to accompany the pictures. On a day like today, there was precious little beauty and a lot of the “underbelly of fall” as I call days like these. Nevertheless, there are only two satisfactory ways to scratch those itches, so away I went. Here’s what I got.

Another sure sign of psuedo-fall is the hummingbird feeder in the carport awaiting storage, its hungry little friends long gone.

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Also, be sure and see the Photo of the Week page at Corndancer dot-com where you’ll find some dramatic flotsam, more crummy leaves, an old cemetery, an abandoned old church and a bit more around LA.

The trees are getting a bit scraggly and interspersed not with dazzling fall colors but brownish looking leaves. There are a few flowers left, making their last stand. Bags full of leaves from the roof gutters (which will be quickly replaced). The humming bird feeder is down and in the carport waiting to be squirreled away until next spring.

Indoor plants which have really enjoyed being outside are about to be relegated to their climate-controlled indoor phase which they will barely survive. The grill is covered.

Our indoor plants which really dig the back yard can forget it. Back to the den and meager light until late next spring. Hopefully the covered grill behind the plant might get a little winter use (slurp).

Yessir, yessir, three bags full already. Fresh leaves from the roof gutters. Soon to be replaced. It’s a vicious cycle.

I went to Lake Saracen to see if some of the winter birds have arrived. Just a few. But I did see a couple of good-ol’-boys setting out a trot line with detergent bottle floats.

Crummy day or not, these good ol’ boys are setting out their trot line in Saracen Lake.

I saw a poor dog chained to a big tree. He seemed to accept his fate. I cursed under my breath at the treatment of the critter and moved on.

This dog can wander only as long as the heavy chain padlocked to the dog and tree will let him go. The dog seems resigned to his fate, I wonder why people do this to an animal who is a loyal companion by nature.

Then I found a rice field that had been harvested before the rains came. Also found a cotton field that had been harvested. Modern cotton harvesting does not get all the lint. That which is left shows as white specks on the fields until they are plowed under or burned. The green, golden, and white unto harvest fields are long gone with the aftermath of harvest “now showing.” Call it anf ugly necessity.

Next I found rice stubble. The emerald green, then golden ripened fields are long gone until next spring.

This once “white unto harvest” cotton field is now stubble. Next spring the cycle will start again.

Not all cotton lint is picked up by the mechanical picker. What’s left will nourish the next crop. This is somewhat exaggerated since it is a the end of a row.

Though I did not see much of anything of beauty save a flower in my back yard, taking a look at what goes on around us serves as a reminder that despite our habits and daily pursuits, things good and bad continue without our assistance and/or interference. And now there are pictures and words, which was the whole idea in the first place.

Thanks for dropping by,

Joe Dempsey
Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind

http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html