This time of the year is, I think, my least favorite. It’s the time between Fall, when we get all the beautiful bright colors, and Winter, when we get the lovely white snowfalls. Around now is when we get a lot of dreary days, and even an occasional rain. Anybody who knows me well knows that I abhor dreary days. I got plenty of them in North Carolina because it rained there so much. Here, in Yakima, it doesn’t rain very often, and when it does it is usually just a drizzle. So that is probably the main reason that we moved to the Eastern side of Washington (Yakima) instead of the Western side of Washington (Seattle). It makes for fewer depressing days.
This time of year there isn’t much going on out there around the yard, and that’s where I’m stuck most of the time these days. We do get out for walks, and Linda and I are going to try and do that every day, weather permitting. I try to remember to take my phone so I can get pictures of things along the way…like this photo above of raindrops on the branch of a trumpet vine.
I could probably have gotten a picture of raindrops in our yard, but it seems like when I am out walking I am more tuned in to what’s around me…and I have Linda along to point things out, also.
The best places to walk near our house are the nearby cemeteries and the park. We can vary our route getting to these places if we want to make our walk longer. Both places have trees and grass, so we can get our “green fix“. There also may be a bird of interest to happen by at times. It is a nice change of scenery from just our own yard.
Once we get to the park, we both walk halfway around and then I usually take the shortcut path and let Linda go all the way around at a faster pace. She walks much faster than I do. I think my legs are shorter, and after all, I am from the South so moving slowly is ingrained in me. On one of our recent walks, I stopped along my shortcut to take a couple of leaf pictures.
Most of the leaves on the ground now are not those brilliant fall colors, but are various shades of brown. Every now and then you will come across one that has a hint of the wonderful gold or yellow color of Fall. The leaf in the photo above was one such example, plus I loved the pattern of the leaf ribs.
Far more prevalent are the brown leaves, but they can be just as pretty as their more colorful cousins.
The brown leaf above has different shades of brown, creating more interest than a leaf of all one color. This leaf also has many more leaf ribs than the one above it. That stands to reason as different trees have different leaves.
After I had traversed the park on the shortcut path, I came to the parking lot. Alongside the curb the leaves had gathered up into groups, doing what we definitely should NOT do during Covid.
The leaf piles had all the colors. Subtle yellows gave way to dusky browns leading to dark reds.
I came across a very large leaf in the middle of the parking lot. I put my shoe into the frame to give the leaf some scale, and then I noticed that it was the same color as my shoe!
As I was wandering around the parking lot looking for photo opportunities, Linda caught up with me from her much-brisker walk around the long path and we headed home. She kept having to slow herself down to keep pace with me, trudging along at a turtle’s pace. At least we are both getting outside for some fresh air and a little bit of exercise, so it’s a win. We must count all wins these days.
On another walk the day before we had taken a different route. I decided I wanted to go take a look at the artist wall. This is a wall that runs along the sidewalk on 24th Avenue here in Yakima. It was started by a gentleman who lives near the wall and was running for city council last year. He lost his bid for the council, but we still have the wall as evidence of his attempt to make one part of Yakima better.
There wasn’t a lot new on the wall, but I did see this one painting in the photo below that made me think of my good friend Alyssa, who runs the View from My Window Photography Facebook page. One of her favorite photography subjects is a Great Blue Heron, whom she has appropriately named “Blue“. If you are on Facebook, definitely check out her page.
PARTING SHOT
Since it has turned off cold, almost every morning Summer Girl will go get on the big bed for a little nap. She did this the other day, and then came out and made a feeble attempt to get us to feel sorry for her, presumably so she can get a treat. I caught it on video. Poor baby.
Join me every Wednesday (barring any unforeseen circumstances) for more from the Southerner in the Northwest.
Southerner in the Northwest 
I have to purchase flowers at this time of year to help fill my soul with colors. Although, there are pots of geraniums blooming in the laundry room. Never can cut them back to make them go dormant. They seem to do just fine blooming whenever all winter until they are put back outside in April or May.
Your leaf shots are very good-the crinkled edges and shades of greens and brown are so different than usual colors. Even the pear tree leaves went from bright reds and yellows to BLACK.
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Thanks, Kris! Yes, we have to satisfy our need for color in whatever way we can because the winters here are just so brown, unless we have snow.
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Browns are pretty, but sometimes they just sort of blend all together and don’t even make a nice dessert of chocolate cake and tea!
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These certainly are dreary times, made even more dreary due to COVID. Hopefully, we will emerge stronger when this has passed. BTW, I love reading your blog each week! It reminds me of when I lived in Yakima and Ellensburg in the late 70s and 80s to attend college.
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I think everyone has learned a lot of important lessons from this pandemic, so we will definitely be stronger. I’m glad you enjoy the blog, that makes my day! Thank you so much.
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