Maple Leaves at Night (309/366)

TIME: 10:30 pm

PLACE: Backyard
SUBJECT: Maple 

*~*~*

Working all day (it's month-end!) and having the darkness arriving earlier tends to make the daily picture taking a bit more challenging.

I am grateful for the sodium light in the alley which helps with night-time photos.

The maple tree seems to glow under it.

December Tree (360/365)

"In drear-nighted December,
Too happy, happy tree,
Thy branches ne'er remember
Their green felicity:
The north cannot undo them
With a sleety whistle through them;
Nor frozen thawings glue them
From budding at the prime.”

John Keats,  In Drear-Nighted December 

TIME:  4:40 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT:  Red Sunset Maple tree

A last, lovely, do-nothing day before work beckons tomorrow.  DQ and I went to Target, not for the sales, but to purchase cat food and Q-tips.  We did manage to spend some money on 50%-off gingerbread Pop tarts, dark chocolate Hershey kisses, peppermint Oreos and some black velvety sweatpants and hoodie for StellaDella.  We came back home and I played a rousing game of Plants vs. Zombies with my son on his Xbox.  Then I booted him off the system and played Zuma (a marble popping game) while the dog and son fell asleep with their heads on my legs and SD fell asleep as she lay down beside me.  I only got up because I needed to take the picture of the tree for the month.

November Tree (331/365)

"No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member -
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds -
November!"

Thomas Hood, No!

TIME:  3:51 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT:  Red sunset maple tree

For some strange reason, all day long, I kept thinking that today was Sunday.  The holiday and the kids being home from school has discombobulated me.  I’m glad it’s Saturday – gives me a whole ‘nother day to get things done…or at least think about getting things done and then taking a nap instead.

October Tree (294/365)

"The clump of maples on the hill,
And this one near the door,
Seem redder, quite a lot, this year
Than last, or year before;
I wonder if it's jest because
I Love the Old State more!"

David L. Cady, October in Vermont  

TIME:  3:32 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT:  Red sunset maple tree

The weather forecast calls for rain on Saturday and that very well might be the end of the beautiful foliage.  So, instead of chancing it, I decided to post the monthly tree photo a few days earlier this month as I’m afraid that if I wait until the 26th, all of the leaves will have fallen from the branches.  We’ve had a beautiful October this year; cool mornings, warm afternoons and plenty of sunshine - the best kind of fall days.

Vari-Colored Leaf (282/365)

 
“Vari-colored leaves
waft at wind's gentle prodding--
Autumn rites recur”

Victor Gendrano, Haiku and Senryu Harvests

TIME:  6:12 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT:  Maple leaf

I was up bright and squirrely this morning to work the grade school’s rummage sale.  I was there from 6:30am until the Salvation Army truck picked up the remains at 3:00pm.  It was a $1,466 success!  It should be enough money to purchase 2 heavy-duty picnic tables for our outdoor classroom that we recently landscaped (all with volunteer help mind you).  I am whooped and thus I was laying on the ground taking photos this evening.

And because I can, I’m posting a second picture this evening.  It is one of the new pet we have at the Sujomi casa…isn’t he furry and lovable?  He’s an outside pet though…I do have my limits.

September Tree (271/365)

 
"But now in September the garden has cooled, and with it my possessiveness.  The sun warms my back instead of beating on my head ... The harvest has dwindled, and I have grown apart from the intense midsummer relationship that brought it on."

Robert Finch (American-born Canadian poet, 1900-1995)

TIME:  4:03 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT:  Red Sunset Maple Tree

I was off work today and ran errands in the morning.  I had the worst headache – it was working to be a migraine.  I ended up taking some migraine medication and laying down from noon until about 2:30.  I felt so much better afterwards. 

Time again this month for my tree picture.  The leaves are just beginning to change – I wonder if they will all still be on the tree at the end of October?

August Tree (243/365)

 
"August rushes by like desert rainfall,
A flood of frenzied upheaval,
Expected,
But still catching me unprepared.
Like a matchflame
Bursting on the scene,
Heat and haze of crimson sunsets.
Like a dream
Of moon and dark barely recalled,
A moment,
Shadows caught in a blink.
Like a quick kiss;
One wishes for more
But it suddenly turns to leave,
Dragging summer away."

Elizabeth Maua Taylor

TIME:  3:51 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT:  Red Sunset Maple Tree

It’s hard to believe that tomorrow is September 1st.  Why do the summers go by so quickly, but the winters seem to drag on forever?  While driving to my annual ob-gyn exam today (I didn’t take a photo there because I figured a picture of the stirrups might be a bit too much sharing), I came to the conclusion that time seems to go by faster as we get older because each day becomes a smaller percentage of our lives.  For example, one year is 1/10th of a 10 year olds life, while it is 1/43rd of mine.  And it just keeps getting smaller all the time.  This has been deep thoughts with Sujomi.

July Tree (208/365)

 
"The Summer looks out from her brazen tower,
Through the flashing bars of July."

Francis Thompson, *A Corymbus for Autumn*  

TIME:  4:26 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT:  Red Sunset Maple Tree

Thunder was rumbling in the sky as I took this photo, but we didn’t receive any rain.

June Tree (177/365)

 
"It is the month of June,
The month of leaves and roses,
When pleasant sights salute the eyes
And pleasant scents the noses."

Nathaniel Parker Willis, *The Month of June*

TIME:  4:42 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT:  Red Sunset Maple Tree

It’s hot and humid here today.  Even being under the shade of the tree doesn’t help.  I think that I’ll stay inside with the air conditioning on.  I am such a wuss when it comes to the heat.

May Tree (147/365)

"As it fell upon a day
In the merry month of May,
Sitting in a pleasant shade
Which a grove of myrtles made."

”As It Fell Upon A Day”, Richard Barnfield (English poet, 1574-1620)

TIME:  4:29 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT:  Red Sunset Maple tree

The leaves have become fuller and the light a bit brighter here in May.  Today was the kid’s last hour of school – for them summer has officially begun.  We set up the pool and probably got our money’s worth out of it already judging by the usage it had today.  I just have one question…How many more days until school begins again?

Maple Wing (117/365)

 
“To see things in the seed, that is genius.”

Lao Tzu (Chinese taoist Philosopher, founder of Taoism, wrote "Tao Te Ching" (also "The Book of the Way"). 600 BC-531 BC)

TIME:  6:52 PM
PLACE:  Front porch
SUBJECT:  Maple helicopter seed

The maple tree has been shedding its seeds and the helicopters have been twirling and floating through the air.  I was examining one close up and thought that the veins in the wing predict the trees that the seed will eventually become.

April Tree (116/365)

"April prepares her green traffic light and the world thinks Go."

Christopher Morley, John Mistletoe

TIME:  4:12 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT:  Red Sunset Maple tree

What a difference a month makes.  The leaves have exploded since March.  (I expect we will be tired of the green by the time September rolls around.)   No blue sky today though.  Rain is in the forecast for this evening.  The kids are going with Grandpa to the Cardinals baseball game tonight - I hope that the rain holds out until the game is over.

March Tree (085/365)

  
“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold:  when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”

Charles Dickens (English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian era, 1812-1870)

TIME:  4:04 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT:  Red Sunset Maple tree

Barely, just barely, changes are beginning to show on the tree this month.  I can see the red buds emerging from the branches.  Another cloudless, blue sky for my picture.  The temperatures seem more like winter than springtime.  This Charles Dickens quote seems to hit the nail right on the head today.

February Tree (057/365)

 
"Late February days; and now, at last,
Might you have thought that
Winter's woe was past;
So fair the sky was and so soft the air."

Morris, William. “The Earthly Paradise.” New York: Longmans, Green & Co. 1896.

TIME:  3:09 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT:  Red Sunset Maple tree

Well, here is the tree for February.  Not much of a change from January, huh?  Who would have thought that I would have the same type of weather on the 26th day of the month for both January and February?  One difference I can see it that the sky is a much deeper blue today than it was in January.  I am looking forward to posting the next picture of this tree…because that will mean it is SPRING!

A Valentine’s Snow (045/365)

 
“Brew me a cup for a winter's night.
For the wind howls loud and the furies fight;
Spice it with love and stir it with care,
And I'll toast our bright eyes,
my sweetheart fair.”

Minna Thomas Antrim, “A Night Cap.” A Book of Toasts. Philadelphia, 1902.

TIME:  8:26 PM
PLACE:  Back yard
SUBJECT:  The “wonky” Sunset Maple Tree

Happy Valentine’s Day to all!  There wasn’t a huge celebration at our house.  The kids got some chocolate kisses and Hershey bars.  HandsomeHusband gave me a box of chocolate covered strawberries from Merb’s Candies in St. Louis, which are always appreciated by me.  I gave HH a book of 52 reasons why I love him that I made out of a deck of cards (I brazenly stole the idea from the Dollar Store Crafts site).  In other news, I took Oreo to the groomers today – she was especially stinky and now she is smelling better.  DramaQueen’s friend, Lola, is spending the night.  And it is snowing again…we are under a winter weather advisory with up to 5 inches of snow expected to accumulate.  I guess it is a good thing that the kids are already off tomorrow for President’s Day.

January Tree (026/365)

 
“The most ordinary of prospects caused her to stop and stare. The last of the leaves dropped from the trees, and the bare branches made lace against pale skies.”

Pilcher, Rosamunde. *The Shell Seekers*. St. Martin's Press, 1987.

TIME: 3:26 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT:  Red Sunset Maple tree

This is the first picture in an experiment inspired by Janasworld Fotoprojekt: zwolf2010.  I found out about this from bentonflocke’s blog.  I did not officially sign up, but I am using the idea in my Project 365 this year.  What I will be doing is this:  During 2010 on the 26th of each month, at around the same time, I will take a photo of the tree in my front yard.  It will be interesting to see the changes each month.  I chose the tree because it is right here at home and easily accessible.  I’m placing the camera at the base of the trunk (same place each month) and just pressing the shutter.  Easy peasey.

Creeping Up (272/365)

 
“Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn.” 

Elizabeth Lawrence (American, garden designer and writer, 1904-1985)

TIME:  6:39 PM
PLACE:  The front yard
SUBJECT:  Red sunset maple leaf

Today really felt like fall.  The air was wonderfully cool and crisp.  On my morning drive to work, I noticed that many of the trees that line my route are getting ready shed their green hues and and put on their colorful fall show.  In our front yard, the edges of our maple tree’s leaves are starting to become red.  I enjoy the blaze of colors that fall brings.

Sunflare and Shadow (134/365)

 
"Black creeps from root to root,
each leaf
cuts another leaf on the grass,
shadow seeks shadow,
then both leaf
and leaf-shadow are lost."

Evening, Hilda Doolittle (American, poet, 1886-1961)

TIME: 7:02 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT: Red Sunset Maple Leaves

Just behind these leaves is my neighbor Marilyn's house.  As I was taking this photo tonight, another neighbor walked across the street and delivered some bad news.  Marilyn passed away Wednesday while at the doctor's office.  She had gone to the doctor to have an ultrasound on her abdomen, and while having the procedure, she had an abdominal aortic aneurysm and she died.  Her daughter was with her at the time.

I was and still am in a state of shock.  I considered Marilyn a good friend as well as a good neighbor.  She and I would talk often.  She was the "go-to" person for any neighborhood gossip.  I did her taxes.  She babysat my children.  She was always one of the first persons I would invite to see any improvements we made to the house, whether it was new paint, floors or garden plants.  When I shared SD's Neighbor paper with her, she was both amused and touched that she was the subject.  I will miss her.

Helicopters (110/365)

   
Paper whirly-birds.
They look so much
like pairs of insects’ wings,
spi-
ral-
ing
down
to the ground,
helicopters landing
on springy tarmacs
to deposit
next year’s forest,
gently,
like precious cargo.

Sweet to think
that trees
once had wings
and flew.

Rainshine, Sonny, Samara (Maple Tree Seeds), http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/samara-maple-tree-seeds/

TIME: 7:04 PM
PLACE: The backyard
SUBJECT: Red Sunset Maple seed pods 

Originally this maple was planted in our front yard.  During a storm, several years ago, it's trunk was snapped about three feet off the ground.  We dug it up and set it out for yard waste pick up.  Then I noticed that a branch had begun to grow from the damaged trunk.  Since I am a softy, even for plants I felt we just couldn't throw it away and replanted it in the backyard.  Except for its wonky trunk it has flourished.  This year both this maple and the maple that took its place in the front yard, are covered with more seed pods than I have ever seen before.  I love watching them rotate to the ground.