Tag Archives: Photography

The Process of Abscission

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Leaf Loss / Bare Bones / Blue Sky

This ash tree started out in 1985 in a five-gallon pot as a housewarming gift. As soon as the leaves begin to drop–in just a day or two– the branches will become bare and I’ll have a LOT of raking to do.

Abscission is the reason why leaves fall. Scientists believe that a reduction in sunlight leads to the reduction of chlorophyll in the leaf due to a reduction in photosynthesis and this may trigger the abscission of leaves. The actual process occurs when the weaker cells near the petiole are pushed off by the stronger cells beneath them.

I’m sure there’s an analogy or parallel to my LIFE but I’ve had a tough week and I’m tired of thinking and not able to direct my brain to untangle the profundities because right now all I want to do is quietly savor the stark, elegantly naked branches.

It reminds me of my little vase of twigs and another example of ma. (https://enchantedseashells.com/2020/10/25/ma-the-space-between-things/)

As pretty as it is all dressed in green, the artistry of bare bone branches are stunning in their strength of simplicity,

I see the graceful arms of a dancer against a backdrop of the bluest sky of the year.

  • – Coco Chanel: “Simplicity is the final achievement.Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.” …
  • – Frederic Chopin: “Nature is pleased with simplicity”. …
  • – Isaac Newton: “I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion.These three are your greatest treasure” …
  • – Lao Tzu: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

Celestial Sunset Brilliance

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Everyone was out this Thursday evening with their cameras pointed up, taking photos of the cloud-dotted sky with amazingly intense colors.

That’s the Encina Power Plant undergoing demolition.
You can see a tiny slice of the ocean off in the distance. A couple blocks away from Casa de Enchanted Seashells.

Search for a rainbow

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We’re lucky here in SoCal to have had a couple days of cleansing rain and it’s supposed to continue all day, but there was a break in the storm so I took the opportunity to go for a walk in search of a rainbow.

I didn’t see one, but I’m not disappointed because the sky and the clouds were magnificent.

I’ve been listening to different versions of this song, Feeling Good. Which one do you like best?
Sammy or Simone? I can’t choose.

The Sun Also Rises

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I had to read that Hemingway novel in school; I remember my dad helped me write the report ‘cos it’s not my cup of tea and I didn’t understand what it was all about. Honestly, how could any 7th or 8th grader with no life experiences ever understand the subtext of a story like that?

I think he met Hemingway at one point because he was salivating when I also had to read Old Man and the Sea for the same class and he helped me with that report too. I remember getting an A on it, and feeling like I didn’t really deserve the grade, but oh well…

Hemingway killed animals for sport and even back then I was an animal defender, so I didn’t feel too badly that my dad did my work.

That’s really off topic, because I simply wanted to share these photos I took of our sunrise this morning. Due to the time change, I was awake extra early, looked out my bedroom window and my mouth dropped open with the sheer loveliness of the sky.

I don’t exactly face due east, so I hurried to get my Canon and run outside before the scene changed and this is what I captured, no filter and unretouched.

Pure, raw pics:

And then this from another slightly different direction seconds later:

Anyway, this took my mind off of the election issues for a brief moment; I am anticipating the formal declaration of President Biden and Vice President Harris. It will be such a relief to fire that toxic orange amoral demon!

Big Sur Magic

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One of my favorite places on earth, and yes, the water really is that beautiful turquoise color.

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

McWay Falls is an 80-foot-tall waterfall on the coast of Big Sur in central California that flows year-round into the Pacific Ocean from McWay Creek in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, about thirty-seven miles south of Carmel.

During high tide, it’s a tidefall, a waterfall that empties directly into the ocean.

The waterfall poured directly into the ocean until a massive fire, landslide, and highway reconstruction project near the area in 1983-84 filled the cove with enough material to form a sandy beach several dozen feet out.

The falls, creek, and canyon are named after Christopher McWay, an early settler and farmer from New York state who arrived in the area with his son Christopher Jr. around 1874.

The park itself is named after Julia Pfeiffer Burns (1868-1928), a local and legendary early pioneer and resident who impressed Helen Brown and had run a ranch in McWay canyon with her husband, John B. Burns.

#WordlessWednesday

Silent Sunday: November 1

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Some pics from today’s sky and last night’s hazy sunset and full moon.

Pinnacles National Park

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Pinnacles National Park is an American national park protecting a mountainous area located east of the Salinas Valley in Central California, eighty miles southeast of San Jose.

Could the sky have been any more blue?

#WordlessWednesday

AfterGlow

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There is nothing so beautiful as the glow of late afternoon sun through bright orange Birds of Paradise.

I spent the day digging out a tree and stubborn roots that should never have been planted so close to the house. That left a big hole that was crying to be filled in.

My Birds of Paradise were ready to be divided, so I worked and worked and worked at it until I could separate a section to fill in the empty space.

I like to fill in the empty spaces—in gardens, in conversations, and in sad hearts, too.

When I finished, I looked up and was rewarded with a beautiful sunglow behind the Birds of Paradise.

Paradise, right?

Sky Fire

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Last night.

#WordlessWednesday

Red Moon Rising

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Waxing Gibbous.

I’m not sure if it’s red because of the fires or because of a planetary shadow or if it’s some sort of blood moon, but it was super cool, no matter what the reason.

Here’s what NASA says: “The air molecules from Earth’s atmosphere scatter out most of the blue light. The remaining light reflects onto the Moon’s surface with a red glow, making the Moon appear red in the night sky. The name “blood moon” is also sometimes used for a Moon that appears reddish because of dust, smoke or haze in the sky.”

Taken at 9:30 p.m. with my Canon Rebel T3i. No filters. This is the true color.

Goodnight, moon.