IN LESS THAN A MONTH

I'll be at the central coast, Pismo Beach, Shell Beach, Avila Beach, San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay, Cayucos and beyond ... for Thanksgiving - and seeing family.  My sister always "hosts" us for the days we are there.  She's a gem, a great cook, fun to be around and my brother in law's dry sense of humor is still funny after all these years.

I will definitely be hanging out in this area on the beach where the cliffs are in the mornings before heading out every day to find places of interest for photography and walking.  I love the Central Coast of California.  In the fall the morning sun lights up the beach so beautifully.

I love the mountains where I live but being at the coast is a totally different experience.  However, in the fall, when the sun sets over the ocean if we are on the Rim Hwy traveling around out mountain area, the ocean is lit up in the distance as the sun sets over the water. Using the zoom on my camera  over 75 miles away is the Southern California Coast so it's amazing to me that we can see the ocean.

Feathers of soft white
Crabs and crustaceans abound
birds delight in feast

Here is what we can see at sunset from the mountains so far away.

MONARCH BUTTERFLY GROVE NEAR PISMO BEACH

In November these Monarch butterflies are in abundance in this grove near Pismo Beach, Ca.  I'm hoping for a quick walk through the grove when we go in November.  I always think of "stained glass" when i see their patterns. 

A FLOWER, A HAIKU AND OTHER THINGS

I tried a reverse image search and cannot identify this beauty.  It lives over in Lake Arrowhead right by the shoreline behind some shops.  It's so delicate and pretty.  I plan to  be over there again today because we go to that area for the local Stater Brothers for groceries.

 I can't wait to pay homage -had to make sure of definition (special honor or respect shown publicly )to it once again - I hang out and admire it and I do believe it recognizes me.  Or maybe it's just the breeze that makes it dance.

They have very long thin stems and are graceful dancers when the breezes flow by.


A single white bloom
Upon a long stem it sits
Between us magic

Right near the bush is this scene below - and in the background the building is some condos on the shoreline.

Oh and "Judy" is playing at the local cinema.  I'm hoping to see it this week.  I saw a trailer with  Renee Zellweger and it looks like she does a great job.

I have several photos of this house set off the road and some come out clear and others blurred.  I'm always taking the photos from a moving car.  The other day this one came out okay.

ALONG THE SHORE

Green frames their beauty
Water separates their roots
All who pass feel love

(there are just a few of these beauties along the shoreline and i know that myself as well as others look forward to fall when they start showing off their colors.)  

SEAGULLS OVER THE LAKE - a FOGGY DAY

Beauty at the lake
Trees enshrouded with (light) fog
A dance of two gulls

(edit had to add "light" to make 7th syllable)..



Just practicing haiku.

Five syllables first line
seven syllables second line
five syllables third line

Will practice when I post a photo.

SOME OF WHAT COLORS MY WORLD (and there will be more - so much more)

THE SEAGULLS ARE RETURNING TO THE LAKE -

Just a few so far but November is when they really start showing up.  I always look forward to seeing them. 

I AM POSTING ALL THE PICS THAT I TOOK THIS DAY IN THE PAST

Before I only put a few up at one of my blogs.  Today they all go up.  I just feel happy when looking at these two.  I saw them at the lake one day and watched their antics for awhile.

LEARNING ABOUT ASPENS VS. BIRCH TREES

The first time I learned that a tree I had seen in Bend Oregon was a quaking aspen is when I started looking for them everywhere.  When we moved to the mountains then and even now I still have to go where the aspens grow especially in fall.  I'm so drawn to them.  But, I wasn't educated on the difference between an aspen and a birch and got them mixed up sometimes.

But I've since learned the aspen has heart shapes leaves with white trunk and black markings and the birch has a different shaped leaf and white trunk and they both have beautiful yellow leaves in fall.  But there is nothing like a Quaking Aspen even in the slightest of breezes.

Yesterday up at Big Bear Lake we found what I was looking for.  Some aspens have turned colors at least on one side of the lake and the other side, for some reason they have yet to turn.

 Yesterday I saw that there were many smaller aspens growing what appeared to be along a root line so I figured ...yes of course, that's how aspen groves are created.  So I googled for more info and here's just a bit of quite a lot of what I've read about them.  I'll be reading up even more on these interesting trees and also on the birch tree which I also love and found that their bark is great for making canoes.

First, it has the widest natural range of any tree in North America, spanning 47 degrees of latitude (equal to half the distance from the equator to the North Pole), 110 degrees of longitude (nine time zones), and elevations from sea level to timberline. It is also the largest living organism, growing in clones that reproduce primarily by sending up sprouts from their roots. And as far as the oldest…a clone in Minnesota has been estimated to be 8,000 years old!  

Getting up close and personal it's great to see just how many colors are in a fall aspen tree leaf.  I also made a trip recently to Heaps Peak Botanical Garden here in the mountains and their aspens are also showing their fall colors - this is at an altitude of about 6500 feet to 6700 feet.  These leaves  are so gorgeous!