Sampling Fall in the Neighborhood
Having put the first load of laundry in the washing machine, I was about to start my morning exercises a week ago Saturday when I happened to look out the window. From our place we can usually see a sliver of Rock Pond. But Rock Pond was not visible. What was visible was a great cloud of mist. Okay, forget the laundry, forget the exercises, grab the camera. The mist had diminished quite a bit by the time I got there, but there was enough to make an interesting photograph. And oh why go back home now that I was out with the camera and the sun was shining so nicely. Might as well see what else the neighborhood had to offer; laundry and exercise could wait. The second and third photographs in this post are from an afternoon foray of a few days earlier. All the rest are from that Saturday of mist and frost and sunshine.
1
2 Lingering leaves on baby cottonwood trees could almost be taken for flowers.
Update of November 7, 2022: Found this in my email inbox this morning: “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. -Albert Camus, writer and philosopher (7 Nov 1913-1960).”
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4 Rock Pond in mist
5 The mist was thicker on Island Pond.
6 Island Pond in mist
7 As elsewhere, the colors had changed at Island Pond. This spot had a different look in mid-October.
8 All along my walk, frost had touched fallen leaves.
9 The frost and sun also played with my favorite patch of grass.
10
11
Romancing Reality 
Your opening picture sets the fall scene well. Linking to the predecessor of #7 makes the transition unmistakable. Did the frost have anything to do with causing the grass in the final pictures to look clumped and matted down in places, or was that how the grass looked even before the frost?
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November 7, 2022 at 5:31 AM
Thanks, Steve. The grass looks clumped and matted and blown around all the time. That’s one reason I like it so much.
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November 7, 2022 at 2:47 PM
We have spike rushes here that look the same way.
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November 7, 2022 at 2:58 PM
As always, Linda, you see beauty where others may pass by without noticing. Thanks for reminding me to slow down.
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November 7, 2022 at 7:31 AM
Thank you, Sandy. Often it takes having the camera around my neck to see things. But I’m starting to realize that I almost always have my phone with me and could be doing that close sort of looking more often.
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November 7, 2022 at 2:47 PM
Every image is outstanding, Linda. It’s hard to pick a favorite but #9 and #10 sing to me. Also #6, Nice work!
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November 7, 2022 at 8:21 AM
Thank you, Ken. I’m happy that these photographs are singing to you.
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November 7, 2022 at 2:46 PM
Beautiful images! they capture so well the beauty all around us here at Kendal.
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November 7, 2022 at 11:17 AM
Thanks, Mary. Do you know the Navajo chant about “beauty all around me”? I know a shortened form, and have often thought it when out in nature. Here’s a longer form, excerpted from a much longer version at https://lindavallejo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Chants-Prayers-Poems-2011-2.pdf.
“With beauty before me, may I walk. With beauty behind me, may I walk. With beauty above me, may I walk. With beauty below me, may I walk. With beauty all around me, may I walk. In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk.”
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November 7, 2022 at 2:44 PM
These are all beautiful and fully faithful to what we have been seeing but are too busy to notice. Thanks, Linda, for sharing them.
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November 7, 2022 at 12:00 PM
Thank you, Polly. Yes, busyness often keeps us from seeing, doesn’t it.
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November 7, 2022 at 2:43 PM
Some really nice scenes and seens here! Laundry can always wait. The first image has that lovely fall stained glass feeling which makes it a perfect introduction. I like the way you saw the leaves in #2 (along with that cool quote!) but #3 took my breath away. I know how hard it is to make something like that work. You did it! All the misty ponds are gracefully done. The frosty leaf is a nice contrast – and the grasses! You do those long rectangular frames so well. I really like this one. Putting the grass and frosty leaves together is a fitting end. More! 😉
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November 13, 2022 at 10:03 PM
Thank you, Lynn. So #3 “took your breath away”! I guess I’m a little surprised, though I shouldn’t be. People’s favorites are never unanimous. I wasn’t sure, though, that anyone besides me would like that one. If I remember right, I stopped way down to get as many seeds in focus as I could, and I was very happy that the foliage beneath them stayed out of focus. I did think about the exposure for #3 more, maybe, than usual. But mostly it was a lucky shot. I would love to show more photos of the grass and frost together—in the sun. But such a combination is quite unlikely in northern gloomy Ohio. I’ll be ready to jump out with the camera if it ever happens again, though.
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November 21, 2022 at 1:11 PM
Yes, there’s something really appealing about #3 to me. I know what you mean about thinking maybe no one else would like that image – I wouldn’t expect it to be a “fan favorite.” 😉 But it tickles the neurons in a way that we both like. I can imagine that getting the background to stay soft and still have as many seeds as possible sharp would not be easy. All you can do is try and be happy when it works. After decades of trying, maybe it gets easier. Frost and sun – not here either! sometimes there’s frost but not too often and then, of course, clouds. 😉
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November 21, 2022 at 3:17 PM
Glad that you forewent the laundry to get out and enjoy the morning. Catching the frost on a crisp morning is a delight and I love the scenes of lingering mists that you caught.
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November 18, 2022 at 4:26 PM
I really did have to argue with myself to stay out with the camera. I’m so glad the photographer won over the housewife. Master of mists and fog that you are, your comment means a lot. Thanks, Steve.
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November 21, 2022 at 1:14 PM