Darkness at Mo(u)rning...

[regnaD kciN]

Yesterday, the forecast called for morning fog followed by clearing and blue skies; since I hadn't had much of a chance this year to shoot fall foliage, I decided to spend the early morning on the Cedar River Trail, hopefully getting images of colorful maples along the riverbank, with a faint touch of fog.

Unfortunately, before the fog could move out, the clouds moved in -- as I was getting out of the car, I was able to capture the only interesting image of the day, albeit one very different from what I was expecting.



I'm titling it Darkness at Mo(u)rning -- this season, I've been hit harder than usual by the feeling of the year gradually spiraling down to darkness, even as events in my life remind me that I, too, am well along a similar path. (As are we all, in our own time.)

[JeffR]

1. Marvellous color, very striking image

Not a banner year for fall foliage here, but I've found some amazing patches of color in some of the city's deep ravines.

[regnaD kciN]

2. Thanks...

Yes, the foliage as a whole was disappointing as well -- what I'm finding are a lot of trees with slightly over half of the leaves still green, the remainder yellow with brown "dead areas." Not very photogenic. The best fall photos I've taken this year came from the second Mount Baker trip, and that was a case of ground cover like huckleberry and blueberry turning color, not the trees themselves. Global warming at work? :shrug:

[Blue_In_AK]

4. Fall is completely over here.

The only leaves left are on the raspberry bushes in the back yard. HullBoss just stuck his head in the door and said a few snowflakes are falling - the first we've seen down here at our house - so I guess it really is the beginning of winter. At least they're predicting a mild one for us in Alaska this year.

We did have a beautiful autumn though. As a result of our very rainy summer, the leaves stuck around a little longer than usual.

[regnaD kciN]

6. There's supposed to be snow in the passes down here today, as well...

It probably won't be long before the D.O.T. shuts down the roads I use to get to Rainier, meaning that I'd have to go around the west side of the mountain, at least doubling the drive time. Also, the east side of Rainier would only be accessible by snowshoe.

The North Cascades Highway and Mount Baker up to Artist Point will be closing as well, so I guess any hopes for a third Baker expedition are over for this year. (Nature photographers in the Northwest should make like the bears here and go into hibernation until spring.)

[Blue_In_AK]

7. I hear ya on the hibernating....

It's starting to get dark early here - we feel like crawling in bed about 8:00 -- and that's not even counting going back to standard time next Sunday when it will be much worse. I'm really not too crazy about this time of year.

[regnaD kciN]

8. One of the drawbacks to living up here in the North...

...is that the switch back to standard time hits pretty hard -- it seems like we've passed into permanent darkness.

I don't know why, because I've never been hit with Seasonal Affective Disorder before, but I've got it bad this year.

Still, it's the flip side of Northwest summers -- when I can call back down to family members in SoCal at 9:30 or 10 and report to them that it's still daylight here, several hours after night has fallen down there.

[JeffR]

5. I wondered too whether global warming was a factor

There are correlations between sunshine, temperature, rainfall and fall color, but the mechanics of the process are way over my head.:crazy:

[Blue_In_AK]

3. Keep the faith, regnaD

This is a beautiful shot, even if not what you expected.

[regnaD kciN]

9. Thanks...

It probably reflects my mood that day more than any foliage shots I could have taken.