This beautiful land

IMG_6316simp
Originally uploaded by jhhymas

Leaving in the morning. So far this is my best month keeping up with this blog--every day without fail! But there are two more days to go. We shall see, Wireless internet access in motels: RULES.

I turned down a chance to see some WW II slides tonight. No time. It's a little sad, though. So long ago, and I was there, although not yet taking slides.
It is hard to leave behind the art books I got this summer, but they are WAY too bulky to take. I did remember to get my swimsuit and my warm coat, thus covering all my bases, weatherwise.

The heavy and the light

The heavy and the light
Originally uploaded by jhhymas

It looks like I have started a series of portraits of rocks. In this case, I love the delicacy of the weeds against the bulk of the rocks. Today I found a blog by someone who is doing what she calls her Diary Project. She draws on, and mails, an envelope to herself every day. Inside each envelope are secrets. She would like to exhibit the completed work at a gallery and then envelopes would be opened by those who attend, as part of the whole project. The drawings on the envelopes have a delicate beauty, like the weeds in this photograph.

http://diary-project.blogspot.com/

Her blog is here, but I still don't know how to link,

Sunlit grasses along the Straits

Sunlit grasses
Originally uploaded by jhhymas

These little tricks of light will catch your eye. Today I poured all the water out of the hose and put it in the basement for the winter. And put away the shovel, the rake and the trowels. These things make the coming winter more real and more final. Even so, the gorgeous autumn light seems like it will last forever. Yet each day the trees are more sparsely leafed, and the tracery of limbs more visible. Our gray squirrel has eaten so much sunflower seed that he actually has a belly! Even the chickadees seem fat, and they have glossy fresh plumage as they carry away seed after seed to hide them in the woods.

A brush with autumn

A brush with autumn
Originally uploaded by jhhymas

Across Round Lake, I think. We went so many places it was hard to keep track. This was on the other side. Tha lake is quite shallow and gunky. It is possible to get your canoe stuck in the almost-quicksand. We were here to look for shorebirds, and we saw Yellowlegs, and a Wilson's Phalarope. But it was hard to take my eyes off these trees. Tonight, packing up the garbage, I discovered a leak under the sink. Wouldn't you know, with all the loose ends to tie up before we leave. Yesterday, S. had a flat tire. The stem was defective. Resolving it took him more than half a day. But I am grateful that maintenance is available and we can afford to pay for it. I think constantly of the struggle so many people are having with the cost of medical bills, housing, car repair and dentistry.

Birding the Straits

IMG_6331
Originally uploaded by jhhymas

My last birdwalk of the Michigan season. Today. My daughter took off work to come with me, which was very nice, since she has not been a birder, It seemed as if it might rain, but it only sprinkled while we were in the deli having sandwiches on artisan bread with hot cider and grandmother's homemade soup. The rest of the day got more and more beautiful as you can see from this. Clouds, sunlight, lake waves, deep water,, islands and sky. And more than 50 species of bird thanks to Birder Expert Steve!

The copper version

The copper version
Originally uploaded by jhhymas

It's hard to resist playing all day with even ordinary photographs. How my mom would have loved doing this. She got a great deal of pleasure from multiple copies of xerox images and all sorts of collagey things. I should find and post some of her collage accretions that I photographed before she left her home in Ohio. She would start with one image, usually one of her children and, over time, add similar or related images to it. Going up the stairwell, there were lots of dance images including Matisse's Dance, Isadora Duncan, an arched Marilyn Monroe stretched out on red satin and one of those many-armed god statues from India. It was quite astonishing. Good night, Mom, sleep well, under your bronze plate that reads, "We are such stuff as dreams are made on." And Shakepeare, too, keeps on sleeping. . .

Vanishing autumn

Vanishing autumn
Originally uploaded by jhhymas

I want to take the Walter Isaacson biography of Einstein back to the library soon. I am trying very hard to undestand the science, but I don't have the background for it. The explantions are very good and seem simple enough, but they are hard to get your mind around. Of course the Europe of the time (all the famous scientists earning Nobel prizes!) is fascinating, as are the bizarre personal lives of the great savants.
We leave in a week and I have a millon little ends I was planning to tie up. These little plans "gang aft agley." Good night.