Tag: autumn

The Old Graveyard

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Autumn has started to seep into the deep south.  It’s cooler at night but still hot during the day.  Some leaves are falling with the gentle breezes.  This is my favorite time of year.  I haven’t been driving much this summer as my car refused to get cool.  It’s vintage, like me, and I thought it was just on its last legs.  Teddy took it to the auto shop last week and they fixed it!!  Freon was leaking out of a broken pipe and now the air-con gets too cold.  Fabulous and just in time for winter…

I changed my CDs (old skool) in the car and was enjoying zipping about listening to blues music.  As I turned down the country lane to our community, there was a traffic jam.  So much so that no more cars could turn onto the road.  I thought, perhaps, it was roadworks – the road has plenty of potholes.  As I inched closer, I saw that it was a funeral at our old graveyard.  Suddenly, I felt so sad, even though I have no idea who had died.  I have written before about this graveyard – still beautifully maintained by the community with gravestones going back to the late 1800s. This is my original post – The vultures sealed the deal

The plots are all owned by local families, some of whom may have been here since that date.  It was one of the most charming aspects to our new community.  Our neighbor is the son of a local man who owns 20 acres.  When we moved to this part of Texas, 21 years ago, these farms were all intact with forested land.  There are still farms and trees but we have encroached onto something that would have been idyllic.  Ever since we left Glasgow, we have been incomers to various foreign lands.  Despite the current climate, we feel at home in Texas but we still don’t belong.

I felt sad for all the change I have seen in my lifetime and perhaps for what might have been.  My lovely air-conditioned house is truly a blessing, especially with modern insulation, but it is part of the problem.   One part of me is truly grateful to have all the mod cons, and a car, but I realize that the pace of our technological breakthroughs affects our environment.  When I was young, Glasgow was smoky and black with coal fired generators.  After the Clean Air Act (1956 and 1968) and the discovery of natural gas in the North Sea, it seemed like we could have a better future.

Before we went crazy with Halloween costumes, this was a special time of year for our ancestors.  The autumnal equinox, changing of the seasons and death of the summer.  Samhain and Dia de los Muertos are ancient festivals that have been tweaked to appease our desire for FUN.  Death is an important part of earth’s cycle and every creature on it.  We should both honor and celebrate it.  The more I thought about the early settlers in this area, my mind wandered to all the native Americans who lived here.  I wonder what they thought of all those European settlers ‘sharing’ their land.

Communities have evolved from time immemorial.  Neanderthals bred with Homo Sapiens.  My DNA profile is so varied, it seems like my ancestors had a competition to see how many groups they could interbreed with!  Scientific progress has allowed me to know that my ancestors were Mexican.  With my mostly Irish heritage and a smidge of Native Mexican, I embrace both Halloween and Dia de los Muertas.  I honor my ancestors (even the naughty ones) and I choose to feel both happy and sad in autumn.

Enjoy the season!

Pink Paws

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I was busy cooking when I glanced out the window. “What the heck is that?” It was 10 am and there was a little opossum, the only marsupial in the USA, in the garden. At first I panicked, “Why is a nocturnal animal up in the daytime?” Often that is a sign of sickness but it looked really healthy.

Then I noticed what had woken this little fur baby up – apples! I was using apples to cook with and threw the peels out for the birdies to enjoy. I watched as our little possum devoured all the apple and then went through the fence to his burrow. The smell must have been irresistible! They are such primeval little animals and very gentle. Possums only live for 1-2 years which is strange for a large animal.

Later we took a wander around the pond where the ducks were curiously segregated. Black, then white Muscovy Ducks with brown Whistling ducks behind. Usually they congregate in a delightful commune.

The only solitary critter was this Great White Heron who was fishing in the shallows.

I loved the iridescence on this little girl Muscovy. The girls have less of the red cowl on their heads as you can see from the gentleman below.

A few days later, I noticed that a black and white duck had been killed on the road. The ducks had been trying to follow me home to our street but stopped them. I suspect someone has been feeding them because they are tamer than usual. The gardeners cleared the grass but left the dead body, as I was hoping they would do.

The pungent smell of their deceased relative might persuade them to stay in the safe confines of their pond. So far, so good. Teddy’s grandad was a farmer and used to shoot one crow then nail the body to the fence. Crows are smart birds and it kept them from eating the crops. This used to be common all over Scotland. It’s a gruesome sight but more humane than poison.

I attempted a walk around the pond yesterday but as I approached the ducks, I saw that Sigrun the Swan was in charge. It looked like a Union meeting as he was surrounded by all the ducks and the Great White Heron who is his BFF. In my imagination he was saying –

“One of our fellow ducks is dead because you left the confines of the pond. From now on we will all agree to stay off the roads. I promise to watch over y’alls and keep the pesky humans in line.”

As I got closer, the Great White Heron took fright and flew off, croaking as he went. Their voices bely their graceful appearance. Sigrun the Swan turned his beady eye on me and raised his wings in warning. He was on the middle of the path, pond on one side and ducks the other. Discretion was the better part of valor and I turned tail… I am glad he has taken control of the commune again.

Fall is definitely in the air despite our rising temperatures. I spotted these lovely lime green fungi in our garden and many berries in the trees.

HAPPY FALL, Y’ALLS!!

A Gentle Autumn

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Teddy and I went out to lunch in our township’s downtown. This is the view from the bridge above the canal. Fall comes gently in the south, if we are lucky. When there is a hurricane, all the leaves are blown away.

Yesterday I visited our pond across the road and it was bitterly cold. This beautiful heron was hunting in the marsh.

Every so often there is an odd tree or bush that is vividly colored and gives a real autumnal pop!

The sun was shining on the water but they avoided the cold water. They always wag their tails like dogs when they see me. I am just as happy to see them. If only I had a tail…

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Old Town, San Diego

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Colorado House

Stable Museum

Close to the Immaculate Conception Church is a Pioneer Park with original and replica buildings from the origins of San Diego. As I wandered through the park, I wondered about my ancestors. Was I walking in their footsteps?
This is a quote from Old Town San Diego guide

“Old Town San Diego is considered the “birthplace” of California. San Diego is the site of the first permanent Spanish settlement in California. It was here in 1769, that Father Junipero Serra came to establish the very first mission in a chain of 21 missions that were to be the cornerstone of California’s colonization. Father Serra’s mission and Presidio were built on a hillside overlooking what is currently known as Old Town San Diego”.

I bet it really was cosmopolitan back in the day!

Spice shop

I was fascinated by the huge scale. It made me think of bushels and pecks – such descriptive measurements. When we moved back to the States, I was delighted to find imperial measurements instead of Metric weights. Sometimes you are just to old to adapt to kilos… Then I discovered that American imperial measurements are different to the old British ones. The gallons are different – WTH???

Senora de los Meurtos

I visited just before Halloween and Dia de los Meurtos and loved the vivid color in these displays in the restaurant district. You can tell that it is autumn in San Diego with that fantastic clear light. It was about 80 degrees with NO humidity – yay! I fearlessly ate lunch outside without misting systems and didn’t get bitten by mosquitoes. When you live in a sub tropical swamp, those weather conditions are heaven. As I write this, it is heavenly weather in Houston but there is always some bloody mosquitoes…

Ah, it was a perfect day visiting ancestor’s graves at an appropriate time to honor them and then being able to imagine how they lived.

Fall Fungi

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Gourmet critter fungi

Here in the subtropics, fall comes late. After enviously looking at other autumnal posts with amazing red and yellow trees, I searched my garden for some sign of winter coming. It is subtle but the leaves are started to drop and the fungi have arrived. I loved the pretty edge of the larger fungus above and noticed that the critters were digging a trench.

Fungus blossom

There can be such delicacy in fungi and I loved this pretty little one, above with a frilly edge. By contrast there was a stoater (Scottish for very big) in the front garden.

Stoater!

There is something kind of scary about some fungi and this one, below, was a little creepy. It looked like straw but the critters had been playing with it, so someone enjoyed it. Right now, one of our garden animals has dug a really big tunnel under the deck and I suspect it is the armadillos. They are getting their new deck ready for cooler nights…it is like living in a commune. 🍄

Strange Fungi…with some colored leaves!!!

I saved the best one for last – a little bouquet of pretty flowers.

Fungus flowers!

Fall in the sub tropics – part II

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fall-dark-cloud-reflection
Winter is coming…

autumn-fluff
Autumnal Fluff

seed-pods
Seed Pods

Winter is coming… The evil Canadians sent it last night and the temperature dropped by almost 50 degrees. Those beautiful orange leaves, from the last post, are all on the ground.

Despite that, some of the hibiscus are still blooming and the bottle brush and giving us a splash of red.
bottle-brush

Translucent Berries
Translucent Berries

My friend at Evil Squirrel’s Nest urged us to feed the outside critters with the cold front and this is a cute little Texas Fox Squirrel eating her snacks. I love the way they look slightly different from state to state. Ours aren’t very furry but their tales are really long.

I'm coming down for the snacks. Muchas Gracias, Senora!!
I’m coming down for the snacks. Muchas Gracias, Senora!!

Nom, nom, nom
Nom, nom, nom

Fall in the sub tropics

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The tree outside my house
The tree outside my house

Houston is in the sub-tropics, I live a little further north just on the edge of an ecological division between coastal and piney forest. Whatever the case, fall comes late to these parts. Sometimes we don’t get one at all if a hurricane runs through. It was similar in the north of Scotland. One day it was summer and then the tail end of a tropical hurricane would blow all the leaves off the trees and BAM – it was winter.

Most of my local photographs are taken next to our containment pond. For those unfamiliar with the term, the pond is there to soak up our many floods. It also dries up to barely nothing in a drought. Usually noisy Teddy is with me but I was quietly stalking and suddenly saw this precious pair.

baby-nutria
Baby nutria with mama after a swim

Nutria is an invasive water living mammal not unlike a beaver or coypu. They were introduced to the south for the fur trade so, as usual, we humans are to blame. The baby was gently bleating to Mama about the strange lady with the camera. I haven’t seen them for a while because the Rangers remove them. For the short time that they are here, I will enjoy their little furry faces.

mama-nutria
Mama nutria swimming

As I was walking about I could hear the drying leaves rustling and the ever present noise of the frogs that live at the pond. Then I spotted this poor cold turtle – he stayed right on his little island because it was too cold in the water. It’s all relative, temperature wise, as the temperature was mid 60s and sunny. ☀

cold-turtle

cold-agave
A ‘Chili’ Agave!

Autumn beckons

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rust&green

It is the birthing of a new season and the dying of the old. Both exist together as they do with every species. This tree fern has a whiskered texture as the leaves prepare to feed the ground below. Summer is in decay, humidity and heat dissipating likewise the cicada chirps. Autumn is sprinkling it’s magical orange fairy dust as the nights close in.

sweetgum

The Sweet Gum leaves are not ready to surrender to old age and the invasive Tallow bewitches us with it’s exquisite oriental leaves in every season.

tallow

Yet, the seasonal food is naturally colored for autumn and contrasts so prettily with the ancient rock and lichen.

3pumpkins&rock