It's Autumn! Finding Reasons to Live at Apple Hill.

Hello loves.  

I came here to try to get back on track.  And as I stated in my previous post (which I just came on here and found, so I finished it and published it), I have been struggling with my mental health very badly lately.   

Following advice from both my therapist and psychiatrist, I am trying to restore my faith in this ugly world and one of the ways that I do this and heal myself is by road trips into this beautiful gift from God called Earth.  

So last weekend I got up early and headed up highway 50 to Placerville and Apple Hill.  It was a gorgeous morning and I wanted to beat the crowds so I could have some peace and take some photos before doing a small bit of shopping.  :-)

Most of the farms weren't even open when I got up there just before 8:00 a.m. so I decided to drive around and look for Autumn colors to photograph. I drove up past Abel's Acres and went down the road to El Dorado Orchards (I think) since they have a big gloriously colored tree in their parking lot.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do with this information because...well...it's just a lone tree in a parking lot!  Not very photogenic.  haha  

But today, the morning light in the distant orchard highlighted another beautiful green tree and I thought it might look cool framed by the red, yellow, and gold leaves of the parking lot tree.  

From there, I just drove a big circle by heading down to Hassler Road and following it back around to Abel's Acres.  

Oh, such MAGIC I saw along the way!!

I came around one corner and saw an amazing and colorful vista with different shades of green, red, and orange and had to pull over to snap some pics.  And the best thing for my Autumn photos??  There was a wild turkey right there walking amongst the trees!!  Awesome!

I took one photo and zoomed way in (which of course caused some deterioration since this is a small sensor bridge camera) for the turkey.  But fortunately I think it looks kind of cool processed with some AI filters along with a layer of "paint strokes".  

Cool!  So happy.  

One thing I love in rural areas is when people put old trucks to new use.  One of the main things I see done is to use a truck as a flower bed, which I love.  These folks on Hassler Rd multipurposed their truck as both a flower planter and a mailbox!  Cute!

Yes, I had to quickly stop and get a picture of the gorgeous tree line road leading me into the light!   

And then I saw Lava Cap Winery and stopped.  No, not to taste some wine (which I totally would do if it wasn't 8:00 in the morning with me driving alone, etc.) but because the groomed fields looked so beautiful!  

I couldn't park where the vineyards are so I had to walk around a bit (good for me!).  

In the process, I saw a small rubbish (But the rubbish was so beautiful though?) pile and HAD to stop and take some photos.  The purple colors (my favorite) were so lovely that I was very tempted to take some home with me.  Only the wrath of my daughter stopped me. haha

The vista that originally caught my eye from the road...

So while I was walking around Lava Cap, I saw (behind their locked gate) some pumpkins sitting amongst the gardens and I thought it looked pretty cute.  Then I remembered back in the day when I would take a little companion on my trips to be in some photographs.  And by companion I mean a stuffed animal or photo prop of my BTS friends. 

So I decided to go do my little bit of shopping and buy a pumpkin to take some pictures of.  Since it was Halloween and all.  I headed to Abel's Acres but got sidetracked by some horses and birds.  lol 

Yes, the next picture is of a dumpster.  But it's a dumpster with a Western Bluebird on it!!  lol  

And this is a female or juvenile Western Bluebird UNDER the dumpster.  Well, not quite under.  But there is a sparrow of some sort more under.  

Chipping Sparrow!!  So delightful!

Abel's didn't have the apples I wanted, so I headed over to Boa Vista and bought Arkansas Black apples for me and Terrie. They were a disappointment unfortunately.  Most apple orchards in Apple Hill were damaged this year and the apples didn't look right.  But I hoped they would still be delicious but they had a weird texture and didn't quite taste right.  The texture was chalky and was pretty off-putting.

But I had more success in my other purchases of delicious apple cider and two kinds of fudge (chocolate and apple pie).  And a green-striped pumpkin to star in some photos!  :)  I promptly took him over to a lovely red maple tree I had seen by a house down the street from Lava Cap.  

And by this pinecone and cool rock!

And in my beautiful rubbish pile!!

And, finally, amongst the gorgeous flowers in the bed by the Lava Cap Winery logo sign!

And then...my magical morning got even MORE magical!

When I'm going through this crisis of mental health and faith, I'm not afraid to ask for a sign from Father God that he is with me and still carrying me when I need it.  

I used to pray like 10 times a day.  But in the ugliness of this world and what passes in the news for so-called Christianity (from IMO the people who are the LEAST like Christ that I've ever seen), that number has fallen to usually once a day.  Sometimes nunce a day.  

I'm trying to change that.  Because my relationship with the Lord is just that.  MY relationship with the Lord.  And I can't worry about what other people are doing.  Or what they think of what I'm doing.  The hard lesson I learned when my brother died is that the people that I love do not always love me in return.  

I so miss my brother, but to be honest, I'm grateful that they did not live to be a part of this world.  Because I don't know how that would have went and I'm so sad just thinking about it. 

So I seek out God's beauty in God's creation.  I ask questions but also try to rely more on faith, because my over analytical mind just questions everything and runs a million miles an hour - especially lately. 

So on this incredibly beautiful morning full of God's light, love, sounds, and sights, I was feeling His spirit.  

And then came another sign carrying all of the above.  I heard a beating sound.  It was pretty loud and sounded like a Harley coming from down the road.  But nothing came. 

I kept taking photos.  And heard it again.  And again.  

Finally I realized that it was coming - not from the road - but from right beside me.  There were 3  delicate and yet grand hummingbirds admiring the very same small plot of flowers that I was.  

Just after I realized what was making the sounds, a truck came by and they all scattered.  I sat down on a rock.  And said a quick prayer that I may be blessed with the return of at least one so I could try to get a photo.  

And one came back.  Just one.  Just for me. You'll never convince me otherwise.  :-) 

It's drinking!  Look closely and you can see it's long beak going into the flower.  It's body looks a bit weird though.  

And last but not least, I even got a mostly CLEAR PHOTO!  

It was a very good morning that I will tuck away into my memories to pull out when I'm feeling sad or hopeless.  Thank you. 

xoxo

Panasonic Lumix FZ80 bridge camera with Topaz DeNoise & Sharpen AI editing software

Mental Wellness. Self-care. Mourning. Yep, I'm going thru It. Plus Autumn Photos in SW Oregon!!

Wow, it's been quite a year.  Some ups.  Some downs.  

Mostly downs... 

And now, I'm mourning the death of my mother after a really tumultuous year for her where her health and care (by her former caregivers) took an extremely sharp and - well, horrible, frankly - downward turn.  

And now, while still  mourning her death at the end of September and the events leading up to it, I have to face the loss of one of my beloved fur babies, Ellie.

I won't go into many details, but tomorrow my baby boy will cross the Rainbow Bridge and go to be with my mom, et al. He's very sick and in a lot of pain.  This all became noticeable and diagnosed within the last week, but unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done for him and, although we want him to stay with us, it's not fair to him to suffer. 

It's really hard because both my daughter and myself are in pretty fragile places with a lot of extraneous stress and anxiety (mostly from our jobs) in addition to grieving.  But with a lot of faith and prayer, we will both get through it.

And self-care, which is a "buzzword" that I've seen many people dismiss, is actually so important for people who have illnesses such as depression and anxiety.  

To me, it means to find something or things that soothe you in a positive way.  Things that take your mind off of the anxiety.  Things that hopefully get you to focus on getting out of bed, out of your home, out of your head!

My best self-care options are music (positive music such as BTS!), photography (preferably nature and/or animals since they aren't as demanding as models haha), reading, watching tv/movies (again, of the upbeat variety), and playing games on my Kindle. 

Also, what always takes my mind off of everything and calms and restores my soul and mind?  A good road trip with a camera in hand. 

The weekend after my mom passed away, I jumped on the opportunity to drive some crucial, time-sensitive documents to my big brother Robert in Washington.  I actually did a slam bam trip with minimal stops and minimal time spent up there with the fam.  But I did make two stops on the way up.  

The first one was to stretch my legs at the Grave Creek Bridge.  I've stopped here once before, back in February 2015.  I have to say, the photos I got this time are MUCH better!  lol Although there are some different views and very cute graffiti in the last post. 

This time I noticed that several of the buildings just before the bridge were in very dilapidated state and appeared to be abandoned.  So of course I had to walk around and check them out, although I didn't go inside. 

The rainy, misty morning made for some awesome smokey mountains!

And this time I tried to get some cool angles of the bridge and really focus on artistic (to me, anyway) shots.  I'm super pleased with how they came out. 

Some more potentially-abandoned buildings with an awesomely "smokey" hill in the background. 

I was so happy to see there was some fall color amidst all of the greens and browns. 

  

After this brief stop, I continued on to my favorite rest stop in southern Oregon, Seven Feathers Truck and Rest Stop which is about 33 miles north of the covered bridge.  There is also a Casino, and when I got there, I realized I had hit the Autumn Foliage Photography Jackpot!

Trees and leaves of many different colors!

Along with some rain-soaked pink and purple flowers in their cozy beds. 

Raindrops, Autumn leaves, and bokeh!  Oh this amateur photographer is a happy, happy lady!

And mushrooms!  I love mushrooms.

Southwestern Oregon Autumn Forest

I love photos that look abstract.  I try to get one little part in focus.  My 50mm prime lens is so good at this!  

Add in bokeh and I'm about to faint. 

These two pictures are very similar but I just cannot choose which one I love the best.

They're both my babies.

Trees lining the road in various stage of changing colors.  I really don't know if Seven Feathers planted a bunch of trees that are not usually found in Southwester Oregon forests, but I don't really care either.  haha They are beautiful!

I don't know what these two skinny trees are.  It's hard to see but they were very red with whitish trunks.  

Because most forests in the Pacific Northwest are pine forests (I think, anyway, don't @ me), of course there are a lot of pines in the area too!  And with the recent rain, it was straight out of a shimmery fairy tale.

Some trees were almost past "peak" color with brownish leaves, but even these trees were a gorgeous sight to see, especially when they had some red leaves hanging in there. 

Set against the backdrop of green pines, and with random water drops forming bokeh (and focal points), these trees were so dramatic and I was in love. 

And then there were the pines themselves.  Looking like shimmery dreams with their needles draped in drops of rainwater. 

macro concept black and white bokeh filled art i am so enchanted i forgot how to use punctuation

A red leaf on pins and needles. 

So many different shades of green!

Don't break my heart and tell me this is not stunning.   I wouldn't believe you anyway.

"We should not judge...by the peak of excellence, but by the distance...traveled from the point...started."  ~~ Henry Ward Beecher 

And then you have some bushes that were mostly green with the occasional leave cluster that had turned yellow and red.  

Pinkberries!  No, not the yogurt shop, but these out of this world pink berries (or seeds but that doesn't sound as cute)!

With the peach leaves and bokeh, I am now over the moon.  

And just like that, seeing all of this beauty that God has provided for us...  

Feeling the rain on my skin, smelling the crisp, clean air...  

I am rejuvenated and more at peace.  

My soul is lighter and my faith is restored.  

Imagine that this world is so beautiful!  

What must Heaven be like?  

What green pastures and spacious mansions have been prepared for us and our loved ones - human and fur-baby alike?   

How can I be sad for them who have left or are leaving me when I know that what waits is more beautiful and peace filled than anything I can imagine?  

Where love and healing are all that surround and bodies are no longer frail and filled with pain and minds no longer know sadness and fear?

Call it a fantasy and I don't hear.

Tell me I'm wrong and I don't care. 

Say that I'm weak...that I cleave to a dream.

I'll smile.

And thank Heaven for dreams.

xoxo
Nikon D600