Sidewalk tourism: heirloom pumpkins

I rarely plan whether or not I'm going to go out and take pictures. Usually, it just happens. So, the following pictures came from an instance of serendipity. I had a package to ship, and just decided to park the car and go wander around and take pictures. There's actually a ginkgo tree in town, which is like the only ginkgo tree in town, so I like to wander past it. I suppose, technically, I am stalking this tree — waiting for the leaves to turn from green to yellow... it's getting there. Don't worry, once it's leafless I promise to stop wandering past it with my camera until next fall...

Anyway, when I was done with the ginkgo I decided to walk down a side street I usually avoid given that someone owns a really lonely / angry barky dog. It's awkward to stand there on the sidewalk and photograph trees while someone's dog is howling murder at you from behind a fence or a screen door...

So, anyway, there was a yard with some flowers, and I had just gotten done taking some shots of one of their pine trees, and I kept wandering down the sidewalk, and all of a sudden there appeared a pile of heirloom pumpkins, squashes, and gourds. Now, I don't mean like 1 or 2 or 10 pumpkins, I mean upwards of 25. Yeah, I didn't count them, but my lands, there was a pile of pumpkins of all types and colors. It was magnificent.

I took at least 70 photos. Yes, it was that damned cool.

"pure pumpkin" on Artfire

"sublime autumn" on Artfire


"autumn joy" on Artfire

I invite you to stop by my Artfire shop: SunshineSight to check out some of the rest of the shots from my awestruck moment with someone's decorative pile of heirloom pumpkins.

Have a Happy Halloween!

Autumn Leaves: water droplets

It has been like Indian Summer here lately. And apparently with Indian Summer comes the trappings of summer, warm weather, sunshine... and wind. Yes, there was a tornado warning here yesterday. Oh, Indian Summer.

Anyway, in my travels of sidewalk tourism I have photographed many leaves, and trees, and tree bark (and even the occasional squirrel). And every once in a while (since I am a sidewalk tourist in the morning) I see dew on fallen leaves. There's something about water droplets that is just intriguing.

On a completely unrelated note - my collection "autumnal mood" made the front page of Artfire on Tuesday - whoo-hoo! You can check it out here.

Outside: colors of autumn

A bit of a break from just leaves & trees... although technically, there are still autumn leaves here. It's somehow amazing how there are still flowers blooming, but then it has been like Indian summer presently. So, on with the color:

It was serendipitous that there happened to be a ladybug puttering around on the sweet gum. And that bird taking off to flight as I was taking my shot was a bit of a delight...

This last one is for sheer gluttony. I have now made my first pumpkin pie. Of course, being of the slacker generation, I did not hand mash a pumpkin or something exotic or earthy like that. Yeah, it's Libby's "Easy Pumpkin pie mix" - yeah, not "pure pumpkin" — I mean the stuff that you just add eggs and concentrated milk. Of course, I did dress it up with top layer of cream cheese with sugar, garnished with walnuts and cinnamon, and made a graham cracker crust.
It's delicious; and I'm not exactly a fan on pumpkin pie. I'm generally that person at Thanksgiving who buries the pumpkin pie under a heaping helping of whipped cream...

Autumn Leaves: sweet gum

I spent most of the morning wandering around photographing leaves and other autumnal things that are out & about.

These are some shots from the sweet gum, veining is always interesting to look at.

Enjoy your fall!

Autumn Leaves

Yes, more autumn leaves. This time ones that have fallen...

I have this song stuck in my head presently: "Home" by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

And I've been enjoying the new Donal Logue series on FX called "Terriers"
Yeah, I have a bit of a school girl crush on Donal Logue.

more Autumn Leaves

This is another installment of autumn leaves. This time with some maples that have turned to that bright red and orange hue...

I hope you enjoy autumn!

Autumn Leaves

Stephen Colbert has "Better Know a District" and in order to keep things relevant and timely, this will likely be the first of many many installments of "Autumn Leaves."

I have apparently taken to photographing the fall leaves as a seasonal hobby. So, when autumn rolls around, the daily question generally becomes: to drive into town and wander around and take pictures / or not? It partially depends on the weather, and the rest is up to my personal whims.

Either way, regardless of how regularly I get out and do it, I always end up with hundreds of pictures.

So, this is the first installment of a potentially endless series of Autumn Leaves

Outside: fall colors

I've been spending more time outside lately. Since fall is upon us, the colors are changing, and it's time to go out and take some pictures... Okay, by some I mean hundreds. I am not known for my 'restraint' (at least with the camera).

So, here's to fall color!

I hope you're enjoying your autumn.

The Watcher

The furnace came on for the first time since April or May. So, I guess that means it's fall. It's time for the days to get shorter, the leaves to turn, the pumpkins to appear, and generally spooky things.

Aisles devoted to nothing but candy have assembled themselves in retail stores. I had to stop myself this morning from buying a resin knick knack shaped like a crow and covered with purple glitter. It was pretty cool. Yeah, I bought paper towel with tiny little smiling jack-o-lanterns on it at the grocery store this week. It's Halloween time.

Halloween falls on a Sunday this year, so this should be interesting.
As usual, my house will be the one that gives away a generous handful of smarties, tootsie pops, dum dums, nerds, and whatever comes in the cheapo large variety bag of candy... Yeah, that's right, no chocolate bars. The vast majority of the children who show up seem to be between the ages of 4 and 10 anyway.

As an adult, the thing that is the most fun about Halloween is the appearance of scary / horror / thriller / ghost movies. The ones on Lifetime are generally a scream.

So, in honor of the fall classic — me watching scary movies:

the Watcher

(which can be found on Artfire & Etsy)

Some of my favorite scary movies (in no particular order)
Sleepy Hollow
The Woods
The Gift
From Hell
Whisper
The Skeleton Key
The Reaping
Frailty

So, what are some of your favorite horror, scary, spooky, thriller, or otherwise Halloween movies?