Fall – Photo Set 6 of 6 – Snow

This was taken on the first snow day of the year.  I was headed back to the office after a meeting.  I was on the freeway and kept looking up at the mountains and the snow and the way the sun came through the clouds and lit up the snow and rocks and trees.  The mountain was calling me and I couldn't resist a little side trip up the canyon to take a few photos.  I never did get that perfect shot of the light on the new snow, but I had to get back to work so I left.  What a blessing it is to have mountains like this so close to home. 

I took this a week or so later, the same morning as the school bus photo (post 5 of 6).  Nancy and the kids had spent fall break at the family cabin.  I drove up separately and then left a day early to make it to work about three hours away.  It doesn't take much ice on the road and a brewing storm like this to make me wish I had just taken the day off.  On top of this exciting drive, the heater in my car was acting up, so I had to endure temperatures inside the car in the 30's and 40's.  I drove most of the way with one hand on the wheel, while the other warmed up in my coat pocket.  Then, when I couldn't feel the one I was driving with, I switched hands.

This was taken later that same snowy morning.  A few days earlier at about this same spot, I pulled over and made a post on Facebook that said something like, "Evanston Wyoming in the rear view mirror means I'm headed someplace else."  I lived in Evanston the last two and a half years of high school.  I was always happiest when Evanston was in the rear view mirror and I left for the last time the very day of graduation. 

A storm like this can strike in Evanston anytime of the year.  In fact, it snowed there on the 4th of July both summers I lived there.  I once got stuck in a storm like this while on my bicycle.  I was several miles from home with no jacket.  It was not a happy day. 

This photo was taken specifically for my friends from Evanston, especially those that right now are shrugging their shoulders and saying, "Yah, so?"

How about you?  What kind of places have you lived where you were either super happy to be there or super happy to see it fading in the rear view?

Clark

Fall - Photo Set 1 of 6 - Leaves

Fall has always been my favorite time of year.  Fall is all about the senses: the colors of the sunsets and the changing leaves, the feel of the cool evening air and a warm jacket, the taste of good, home cooking, and the sound of crunching leaves or migrating birds all make fall amazing for me.  But, of all the reasons, the smell of fall is what pushes this one over the top and makes it my favorite time of year.  I love good smells: the smell of clean skin or a fresh rose, the smell of a baby's hair, and the smell of cookies or bread baking; These are a few of my favorite things. 

I also love how closely the sense of smell is associated with memory.  The other day I was walking around the block, taking great, deep breaths of crisp air when a memory slowly came to mind of a small apartment complex I lived in with my mom and next oldest brother.  Our back door opened to a grassy area with a wide creek running through the middle of it.  Along the sides of the creek were maple trees.  Lots of them.  Suddenly I was there again, standing next to the creek, watching my mom's cousin lasso my tricycle and pull it out of the water.  A short time earlier, I had been riding it on the small patio behind our apartment.  When I ventured onto the grass, the gradual slope of the hill took me quickly toward the creek.  Fortunately, I jumped off just before my tricycle tumbled into the cold, fast-moving water.  I hadn't thought about that experience for years. 

Today has been kind of a hard day.  Sometimes I think too much.  Sometimes I don't do enough.  Sometimes I feel like I'm being pulled down a gradual hill, faster, faster, faster, toward a wide, cold, fast moving place that I don't want to be.

I'm much too young for a midlife crisis, but I wonder if this is what it feels like.  Should I jump?  Can I jump?  How bad will jumping hurt compared to going in the drink? 

All of a sudden I have the words to an old song by The Clash going through my head.  "Should I stay or should I go?  If I stay it will be trouble.  If I go it will be double. 

"So come on and let me know . . . Should I cool it or should I blow?"

While you think about that, here are a couple other photos of fall colors to enjoy.  I can't give you the smells that go along with the photos, but if you know the song above, you should at least have a little tune running around in your head.

This was on a narrow, two lane, but very busy road in the mountains.  We were driving slow and cars were piling up behind us.  Nancy was driving so I could hang my camera out the window and shoot.  We pulled over for a second at a wide spot in the road and I looked back to see this lone orange/red maple, lit up perfectly in the afternoon sun. 

This was on the same drive, near the top of the pass.  What an amazing view of the back of the mountain.  Photos rarely do a scene like this justice.  If I had a panorama camera about 5 frames wide and 3 tall, you might get a little feel for what this view was like.

How about you?  What's your favorite Season?  What's your favorite Sense?  What's your midlife crisis going to be like?

Clark