David captured Badboulder's fall season for me because I totally missed it. He has stated throughout our years in taming this wilderness that it's a rare day when a blossom can't be found after a killing frost. He found plenty.
The golden aspen didn't sneak in from our Colorado pictures; it was a Christmas gift from Matt in 1995. The tree didn't flourish until the house was built to shadow summer's intense sun.
One might also think the golden cottonwoods are leftover from the Colorado drive but such is not the case. Those stately trees grace the town wash and are home to Yarnell's famous buzzards.
The Virginia creeper that enthralls me, provides the flash of scarlet.
The purple wild aster is a bit less endearing because its nasty little burrs tangle the pets' coats but its showy blossoms make it a keeper.
David just couldn't pass up our neighbor's quirky (and junky) property. The windmill is a treasure, rivaled only by the "smiley" skillet. Frank didn't do much cooking but his sense of humor was always present. Alas, Frank's "old writer's cabin" appears doomed; nature's forces or the bulldozer loom.
The woodpile is destined for the cook stove. We gave much of the hollow tree away to a local artist for his drum-making project. Both " drummings" and wood burning are Yarnell happenings that can be traced to the people who came before us-the Yavapai nation.
One favorite feature of blogging for me is enlarging and viewing Badboulder's photographs. That old "picture worth a thousand words" adage works for me. I'll grab my coffee and relish autumn.
FROM THE KNOTHOLE: All life on Earth; all buildings on Earth; all roads and dams and canals on Earth;and even mountains and sand dunes and rivers and polar ice caps eventually yield to the forces of time and nature. Look around. Everything eventually comes to an end. People die. Property changes hands. Things wear out. Roads are abandoned. Houses fall down. Stuff becomes obsolete.
Especially in the autumn, we see the end is near. Leaves turn color. Temperatures fall. Frost touches the Earth. Still, everything fights to turn back the onward march of time. Look! What beauty! What color! What energy! What drama! What a magnificent battle unfolds as everything wages a life and death struggle to experience one more chance for life. And so, when autumn comes, what should we do? Look back? Revel in the present? Or look for hope in the future?
As you look at the many images depicting autumn, what do you see? The past? The present? The future? Do you see life or do you see death? Do you see an opportunity missed or an opportunity at hand? Do you feel sad or do you feel happy? Or, does it really matter what you think or feel?
In college, I learned that some philosopher said, "I think, therefore I am." But in Sunday School, long before I went to college, I learned, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord which made Heaven and Earth." I have to wonder if the philosopher and the psalmist were not both troubled by the same dilemma: Here I am, alive, in this great big wonderful world. Now, what do I do?
a parting shot from bbman: see the usa in your chevrolet. that well-known gm ditty was belted out in the 1950's by dinah shore. it still resonates with me. but, since my chevy is a 1992 model year, i will limit my travel in the usa by chevrolet to the white spar highway, a designated scenic route on U.S. Hwy 89 that lies between yarnell and prescott, az. happy trails, everyone.
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