Birches are described as the quintessential Russian tree: sad, romantic, and thus fitting of poetry like that of Sergei Yesenin. Birches in the Rocky Mountains belong to a different variety, but are no less charming (almost, wink!), particularly amidst all that autumn gold.
Two Against the Sun
Wooded Path into the Storm
Fire, Walk with Me
With the exception of non-native maples, autumn colors in this part of the Rocky Mountains largely exclude all those striking shades of red. Thus, when I saw this rowan tree—misleadingly coral from far away—I was convinced that it was another imported maple. When I got closer, however, I realized that this mirage was created by its numerous sangria berries that somehow blended with its orange leaves resulting in the appearance of being on fire.
This is what kids call "Nature For-The-Win."
Inversion (Mobile)
When the Gray tries to swallow the mountains whole, but they come out on top, literally, we call it an "inversion." In this particular case, the Gray couldn't get the peaks, but it did eat the entire lake.
Taking Stock
People make New Year's resolutions—as an evaluation of the year gone by—in an attempt to do better in the following one. I tend to do so on my birthday, October 19.
On the one hand, this year I've reached one particular milestone that, I hope, will be in some libraries long after I'm gone. In terms of image-making, specifically, practice makes perfect, and my photography has improved dramatically.
My illustration, on the other hand, had to be put on the back burner. Thus, changing this is up to me at the expense of other endeavors...or sleep! This has also been an exceedingly stress-filled year often (but not always) without the payoff of concrete, tangible benefits. As a result, I seem to be at a crossroads without seeing things clearly just yet.
And so I head for another walk in the autumn mountains that look as subdued as I feel. As does my basset. (The latter is misleading, of course: all it takes is introducing a deer, turkey, or even a small rodent into the hiking equation!) An objective correlative of sorts. I remember this term from high-school English.
One gets a better view from above the heavens, and breathing is easier, too. Or maybe that's just the techniques I learned at Pilates.




Autumn in Town (Mobile, Part 2)
The particulars of the Rockies' microclimate in this area (I'm speculating, of course) led to certain counter-intuitive effects: the town looks more fall-like than the mountains. Many of the aspen, for instance, have turned to gold, whereas their counterparts at a higher elevation are still green. And so, ascent and descent are a bit like travel in time.



Autumn Mountains (Mobile)
This week in smartphone photography: every color in the autumn mountains, but red.


Lakes of the North
These are the cold glacial lakes of the Quintessential North, the kind that, no doubt, conceal prehistoric monsters. At least that's what those of us with a penchant for myths and legends (or today's rough equivalent—cryptozoology) like to think. How else are we supposed to read all those mysterious shapes on the water that the fog descending from the mountain peaks occasionally reveals?


