On Saturday my son-in-law came to my rescue and figured out how to get pictures from my camera onto my laptop, and then patiently taught me how to do it myself. My daughter spent most of her weekend organizing and updating my important papers, accounts and digital information, for which I am grateful because I am so brain-numb and overwhelmed these days.
On Sunday my friends came over for another long walk and this time I brought my camera along. Naturally I forgot to bring an extra battery but I did get a few pictures before the battery in the camera ran out. It’s a start. I’ll get the hang of things again eventually.
The change of the landscape’s prevailing tint from green to brown is not a cheerful one. Look wheresoever one may, he is pretty sure, in November, to drift into a brown study, and this is seldom exhilarating.
~ Charles Conrad Abbott
(Days Out of Doors)
I never noticed before this old abandoned car a little way off the trail. (above) It’s been completely filled with rocks. We wondered how long it’s been there.
Also on Saturday my granddaughter and I took a walk and she found three broken-off beech twigs with yellow leaves intact. She brought them home and put them in a vase for me.
That old car is one odd art installation. I wonder how it came to be, who did it and why?
I am glad you are finding support as you navigate the changes you are facing, Barbara. Akin to learning to walk again, you take one step/one day at a time. Hugs to you. 💕
Funny, the idea that the abandoned car might be an art installation never occurred to me. But it does seem like someone went to a lot of trouble to gather all those rocks. Thank you so much for the encouragement and the hugs, Eliza. 💙
🙏🏼
Barbara, I am so glad you are near your family…..
Me, too, Susan! What a blessing they have all been.
I can see where some people might consider the world turning brown as a sad thing, but I find it kind of restful. After the leaves fall, nature takes a nice hibernation, storing up energy for regrowth in the spring. It also gives us humans a chance to reflect. I’m happy that you have family and friends near, who can help you do those challenging tasks, help take your mind off sadness (even for a few minutes), and help you enjoy life again.
I’m actually quite fond of certain shades of brown, and I’m pretty picky about them, too. And I do love the turning of autumn into winter and the quality of the light just before the solstice. I’ve always thought that Thanksgiving is timed perfectly for that ‘chance to reflect’ that you mentioned. Having family and friends so close has been a blessing, sharing laughter and the tears as the days keep rolling by.
The Mamas and Papas’ lyrics to “California Dreaming” and “All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray” was a great way to describe a Winter’s day, but it isn’t so great when it looks like this in early November. It is always sad to me when the landscape suddenly is devoid of color, sometimes, in the case of a hard freeze, in the span of just a few days. At least you have color for a little bit longer in the warmer climate. That is unusual seeing that car in the middle of the woods and more so as you never saw it there before … and why did they pile it inside with the heavy rocks? It must have good shocks or it would be sitting on the ground. It reminds me of photos I’ve seen of Old Car City in White, Georgia. The website is amazing, many vintage vehicles, covered with moss, or vines, right in the middle of a forest. It’s pretty amazing. I’m glad you now are able to transfer photos from your camera to your computer, so that means you’ll be taking more pictures to show us in your blog. 🙂
I’ve been asking myself the same question, Linda, why would anyone go to all the trouble of finding rocks and hauling them from elsewhere to pile them up in an abandoned car? At least I assume it was abandoned? There must be a story there somewhere… I never heard of Old Car City – I looked at their website and it looks like the kind of place Tim & I would have enjoyed visiting together. It does look pretty amazing, but too far away for us to have managed.
I do hope I will start taking more pictures again, although walking with others isn’t quite the same as walking with Tim. It’s going to take some time getting used to this new pace but I am making progress, a little at a time. 🙂
I think Old Car City would have appealed to both of you, the nature aspect and the vintage vehicle aspect, respectively. I read about it once and looked it up and could not believe that even buses were in the area. It makes no sense why that car in your blog post had so many huge rocks piled inside. They would have been heavy to lug around. It’s too bad you can’t find out the back story on it.
You’re right about changes to your walk routine Barbara. Hopefully your walking buddies stop and linger as much as you and Tim did for picture-taking, or even a short rest. On rare occasions when people decide to walk alongside me at the Park, if I have my camera, I know they are not staying with me long, as I stop and pause and shoot and feed and talk to the critters – a regular Snow White. 🙂 Good for you making adjustments in your walking habits and seeing progress as well!
It’s so true, you are just like Snow White with your empathetic and gentle nature where the creatures are concerned. I’m sure it won’t be long before you’ve collected another large following of critters! 💙
💙 That would make me happy Barbara. I now think I made a mistake not going there all Summer – perhaps they thought I abandoned them, even if there were only a handful at that time (Memorial Day) who would have thought that. It is great to have that morning “chitchat” with them again as the gathering increases. I’m confident the birds are back for good as well and will be coming by for sunflower seeds and chipped peanuts. I’m done with any Winter shopping for myself – just for the squirrels if they continue munching a lot of peanuts so I can continue my Snow White persona.
Looking forward to all the pictures of your creatures you will be getting as the word spreads and the gatherings get bigger and bigger! 💙
I’m hoping for more interaction as we get deeper into Winter, as long as snow and ice does not hinder me getting down there. My little MSN weather icon has been showing snow for hours.
How much snow did you get this weekend? ❄️
We only got three inches of snow in my area, but are expecting more tonight, one to two inches. We didn’t get as much snow since rain mixed in toward morning. But now it is icy out. Sigh. And it was in the “teens” when I got up this morning. In northern Michigan they have a lot of snow and got more today, so much they had to close airports there.
I wonder if you might just get a white Christmas with the way the weather patterns are shaping up. It’s raining here today, a cold rain because it’s only in the 30s. Not cold enough for snow but I do welcome the rain because of a moderate drought.
At the rate we are going, I wonder if the snow we have on the ground now will just stay until Christmas. I shoveled about two inches this morning and it was icy underneath and a little slippery as it must have rained again. There was a weather statement for “ice accretion” yesterday, so I knew in advance and there were many accidents this morning because of it. We’re getting a little more snow Wednesday night, then plunging into the deep freeze in the teens for several days. It is not good for walking – snow, ice, nor cold. I guess I should have gone out in the heat and humidity because at least the footing was secure. The squirrels and birds are likely pacing back and forth and wondering what happened to me this time.
OMG that car is amazing art! Sometimes for me, the brown times can feel very earthy and much like carrying all of those rocks in that car. However, it reminds me of something I heard over and over in life…Drop the Rock. So when I note the brown times, there is something I can do (mostly grumbling i have found I do not have to be happy about it, kicking and screaming seems to be sufficient if I MUST be that way lol). I have also noticed that when the colors emerge after a brown time. I get that inrush of the ineffable feeling of a power, that sort of turns the lights back on. Sometimes quickly and suddenly and sometimes slowly a little at a time. I THINK I want the suddenly, however in practice I can handle little awarenesses at a time. Noticing Nature is a gratitude stemming from a brown time. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for your thoughts, Elisa! Now you’ve got me wondering if this composition was created by someone symbolically coming to terms with or letting go of some negative feelings, behaviors, resentments, or fears. Perhaps they carried each rock to the site as a kind of therapy or ceremony as they were making meaningful changes in their lives. Dropping the rock – what a powerful metaphor. Thanks for suggesting it.
I’ve learned to accept, and even embrace, the brown times as part of the normal ebb and flow of life. It is easier to welcome this a little at a time. The universe is what it is!
I don’t know about that car, Barbara. The comments brought some interesting theories.
Your sweet granddaughter knows her grandmother. I hope her gesture lifted your spirit.
I look at that vase of leaves every morning and the memory of Katie collecting them still warms my heart. ♡ I did find all the theories about that car fascinating – we are such curious creatures.
I’m glad you are still blogging, at least for now, as you begin this chapter. I’m glad that you have family around, and hope that you will find some healing in nature.
It feels a lot different now, taking my camera out for a walk without my faithful sidekick by my side, but I think nature will slowly work its magic for me as time goes on.