My Autumn Gallery

I have just come through the busiest year of my adult career. I've been full steam ahead, nonstop since August 2014, and sadly, I have paid very little attention to the rapidly turning pages of the calendar. Months have flown by like hours, and I find myself somewhat dizzy from the passage of time. Three international trips, 5 birding events executed successfully, all three children off to 3 different colleges, exactly 198 days spent traveling since last fall, and an ever-growing marketing workload each day. Lo and behold, I have emerged from my busy year to find that autumn is upon us once again! Hallelujah! Fall has always been my favorite time of year, and I'm thrilled that it's here again in all its glory. Thanks to my busy schedule, I am long overdue with a blog post, and I apologize to those of you who are such faithful followers of my little blog. In an attempt to re-engage with you, I am sharing an "Autumn Gallery" with many of my favorite fall photos taken by this very amateur photographer. Some were taken with my Cannon camera, some with my cell phone, and some are rather old and blurry! Regardless of the quality, I hope these photos inspire your love of autumn as they do mine.

 Birding in Ashtabula, OH, October 2011

 Orrville, OH, October 2012

 Ashtabula, OH, October 2011

 Corn Maze in Orrville, OH, 2012

 Hayride in Hocking Hills, OH, 2013

My #2 and #3 kiddos, Cooper and Hope Eller

Hope's 18th birthday party, November 2014

My 3 very young children trick-or-treating, October 2000.

Spencer is 8, Cooper is 5, and Hope is almost 4.

Birding in Wisconsin, October 2014

My happy place. Marblehead Lighthouse near my home, October 2013

Aldo Leopold Foundation & Cottage, Wisconsin, October 2014

Bowling Green University vs. Ohio University, October 2014

My owl pumpkin! October, 2014

 Carved with love, and a very dull knife.

My favorite local farmer's market, Bergman's in Port Clinton, OH

Photo of me by Bill Thompson III, October 2011

Cooper's Senior Year of Football, 2013

Birding with the Ohio Ornithological Society, 2013

At the International Crane Foundation with Kyle Carlsen and Michael & Diane Porter, October 2014

 (Whooping cranes in the background!)

With some of my favorite people, Fall 2013: Tim Appleton, Sharon Stiteler, Bill Thompson III,  and Mark Cocker

My daughter-in-law Casie and my son Spencer. Carving pumpkins and fall crafting at my house.

Wisconsin fall landscape, October 2014

Cooper and Hope, Fall 2013

Bergman's!

Our cat pumpkin, 2013

Fall birding in South Texas! Great kiskadee and green jays, just a few of the many South Texas specialty birds.

Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia, 2010

(And my first attempt at photo filters, a tad overdone.)

Wishing you a glorious fall season full of beauty, color, peace, and love!

I'll leave you with beautiful words of fall from one of my favorite poets.

OCTOBER

by Robert Frost

O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away.
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes' sake, if the were all,
Whose elaves already are burnt with frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—
For the grapes' sake along the all.