Thursday, October 1, 2015

Goodbye, September 2015

My favorite photos of the month in no particular order:


This majestic tree I can see from my second floor living room window always captures my attention. On this rainy day, it was dancing in the wind, and I wanted to remember the magic of that...except that the photo doesn't quite do it justice. Still...I love the picture because it does take me back to a normal day of rain and wind and the majesty of nature.



That's me and Chewbacca at Target. We go way back, Chewie and me. All over the place, Star Wars merchandising is cropping up in preparation for The Force Awakens, and I am over the stars (get it?) with excitement. I've been a Star Wars fan a long, long time. I saw the original during the summer of 1977, and I've been devoted ever since, the prequels (which I refer to collectively as "that Phantom Menace nonsense") notwithstanding. I love it that Star Wars is everywhere I look right now, even if Star Wars coffee creamer and Star Wars graham crackers makes it seems little bit like the merchandising machine is out of control. It's still so much fun reliving the memories of the first movies when I was young and anticipating the new movie, which is already making me feel nostalgic for a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Also? I totally love getting to stand next to Chewbacca, even if it is a cardboard cutout almost too tall to be in the same photo with me.



They're done. All done. All the Legos, clean and ready to be built into cool new ships and whatever else my nephew can imagine. Feels good to have that project completed.



I went out to the car one day, and this tattered leaf was stuck to the back window. I thought it looked cool, so I snapped a photo with my iPhone. Nifty.



On a walk around our neighborhood one day, Daniel and I came across this bird, which looks like a baby or a birdie toddler(?) to me. It didn't move, even when we got pretty close, and I couldn't help but worry a little that it was injured or abandoned by its parents, poor little thing. A friend on Facebook shared the photo and asked a friend of hers who knows about birds what kind it might be, but I never heard back. I found myself wishing I could share this photo with my mother. She loved birds, like her mother before her, and she would've enjoyed this photo. I miss her.



My sweetheart husband, Daniel, was such a good sport when we went to a local orchard on the first day of autumn weather, and it rained the whole time we were there. Now, rain doesn't bother me. I'm a water child from way back, and I like almost nothing more than to walk, play, or do just about anything in the rain. Daniel...not a big fan, but he stayed with me as we rode the hay wagon, full of other dedicated (and maybe a little crazy) apple enthusiasts out to the Honey Crisp trees to fill our peck bag full of apples. The rain changed from drizzle to full on downpour just as we started wandering through the trees, but we prevailed.



And that there is DJ, my nephew, and me at Tony Packo's in Toledo, Ohio. When my Mom was a little girl, she and her Mom used to do a bit of Hungarian dancing at that very building, and because the place itself is infused with my heritage, it makes me happy to be there. On a Monday morning, we picked up our good friend Patsy, and off we went. I got to indulge in one of my favorite meals, chicken paprikas and spend time with two awesome people. (I also had to drive over a bridge I do not like...twice, but it was worth it.) What I love about this photo is that DJ looks well and happy, and those two things can't help but make me smile.



There are these trees, I don't know what they're called, but their leaves turn a shade of yellow gold in the fall that is breathtaking. When they fall, it's like gold confetti all over the street, the sidewalk, the car. Beautiful.



Picking up my husband from work one day, I noticed how the light caught in these turning oak leaves, and I had to try to capture it. Sights like these, along with many other reasons, are why I love fall.



On a walk at Heritage Park, a bee busies itself getting ready for summer's end...



...and flowers such a lovely shade of purple dazzle me.

And so September departs, and I welcome October, my favorite month of the year.