Tag Archives: Autumn

Fall Preveiw

Autumn, Fall, Foliage, Nature, New England, Uncategorized, Worcester, , ,
People have been a bit sad over the ending of summer, but we’re forgetting the glorious colors of autumn.  Already some of the trees, vines, and bushes are shifting into hues of scarlet, maroon, gold, orange, brilliant yellow.  And don’t forget the breathtaking contrast with the pellucid blue skies of the season.  So, I thought you might like a little preview of the beauties in store for us, courtesy of the reservoir in West Boylston and the hills around my home.

 

 

Right across the street from the stone church in West Boylston are some wonderful trails through the woods and around the reservoir.  You can enjoy the calming umbers of fallen leaves in this flowing brook, with just a highlight of pine and hemlock green.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or maybe you’re looking for something to make your eyes pop!  Like the scarlet magnificence of this beauty, exquisitely contrasting with the greens shading into yellow, blending with the fiery oranges bursting from yellow – all against the compliment of that pure October sky.

 

 

 

 

 

 Here is a more individualized look at one of those green-morphing-yellow tress. A maple, maybe?  First the long shot.

 

 

 

 

Now, she’s ready for her close-up, Mr. DeMille!

 

 

Perhaps most beautiful of all is this panorama of the brilliant hues on the opposite shore, across an arm of the reservoir.  Breathtaking, right?
And of course it’s no fun to take a walk through all this gorgeous scenery without someone to share it!  Here’s my special companion.  I’ll bet you can guess who.And look at that warm coat!  Do you still remember how it feels to have a little nip in the air?
I don’t even have to go far from home to enjoy the fall finery.  Look at some of the trees surrounding where I live.

 

 

Finally, there’s that wonderful October sky, pure blue with the graceful swirl of silver, grey, and white clouds.  So, the coming autumn isn’t that bad, after all, is it?

 

Autumnal Woodlawn Cemetery – No Blinking!

Autumn, birds, Cemeteries, Don't Blink, Fall, Gothic, herons, Nature, New England, tomb stones, , , , , , ,
.
Three years ago, Yang and I took an autumnal visit to Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.  This was our second visit.  Our first was in the summer, and we took many woodlawn1photos of the gorgeous sepulchres with their ornate carvings of lions and sphinxes, as well as beautiful stained glass inside.  This time, with the fall leaves beginning their metamorphoses into vivid colors, we concentrated on the outdoor imagery.  I love the way this angel is framed by the flaming curve of the branch and leaves above it.

 

 

woodlawn4I also found this figure fascinating, straining for freedom, emerging from his marble prison – perhaps to burst the bonds of the body’s clay and fly away on the sharp wind of the north to eternity.

 

 

 

woodlawn10We found this image especially beautiful, the soft orange of the tree leaves providing a brilliant background contrast to the soft grey/white of the stone and  the gentle and flowing draperies of woman portrayed here.

 

 

 

 

 

This woman draped meltingly over the tomb stone in her anguish was a deliciously melancholy image to ponder.woodlawn2 I actually manged to find a piece similar to this monument from Toscano to add to my own Halloween graveyard in my front yard this year.

 

 

 

I’m fascinated by this monument.  My guess is that the chap memorialized in Roman senatorial garb must have been a judge or a  high political figure. woodlawn3 I hope he met a better end than Julius Caesar!  I thought the warm orange of the tree behind his imposing statue made an appealing contrast.  Stern but not harsh features on this chap.

 

 

 

 

Happily, we found a wonderful living denizen in the cemetery.  woodlawn9Woodlawn also contains a beautiful reflecting lake, and this Great Egret found it just the ticket!  Of course, he was probably more up to fishing than reflecting – a bird’s got to eat!
There were other typical Victorian monuments, wonderfully complemented by the fall colors.woodlawn6  Here is a mother with her children.  One hopes this is not a comment on the high mother/child mortality rate but rather a celebration of deep feelings between parent and children.
I was intrigued by this praying woman, high atop her monument.  woodlawn11She almost has an aspect of the Catholic Virgin Mary, not what you would expect in a seemingly predominantly Protestant cemetery.  Again, the autumn trees provide a pleasurable contrast to the cool white and grey-aged stone.

 

 

This cemetery is indeed a pleasure to stroll through, just be sure to bring your camera – whatever season you visit!

Here’s a link that gives you a virtual tour.

 

Halloween Reading Treats!

1940s mystery, Autumn, Dorothy Mcardle, Film Noir, Gene Teirney, Gothic, Gothic literature, Halloween, Jessie Douglas Kerriush, Mary Wollstonecraft, mystery, suspense, The Sign of the Ram, The Uninivted, Uncategorized, , , , , , , ,

Every October, I like to have some bedtime reading that suits the season.  I just finished two new books:  Midnight Fires and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.  The first is a mystery by Nancy Means Wright that features Mary Wollstonecraft as its intrepid detective.  marywollstonecraftaWollstonecraft is a great choice for the role, as anyone who has read her Vindications would agree that she has all the nerve, smarts, and wit to boldly ask the questions and dig the dirt necessary for an investigator.  Her being cast in this role makes perfect sense. The novel is set during Wollstonecraft’s tenure as governess to the aristocratic Kingsborough family in Ireland and does a neat job of characterizing “the troubles.”  We also get good views of the workings of the Kingsborough family, as well as how contemporary views of women have stunted and warped them – right in line with MW’s own writings.  The descriptions of the landscapes are a pleasure to read as well.  Not least of all, the mystery has some neat twists and turns.

 

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir was a pleasantly amusing visit with the supernatural – a low key, smile-inducing progress of Lucy/Lucia Muir’s liberation from oppressive Edwardian propriety to become a mischievous, independent woman – with a little help from a frank and fiery sea captain’s ghost – though she was already well on her way to freedom before they met at Gull Cottage.ghost-tierney-really-good  There are some significant changes from book to film, but both work equally well.  I do think that Gene Tierney gives Lucia Muir a bit more power than the character in the book.

 

 

There are four books that I usually return to once I finish any new prizes for the month:  The Uninvited (Dorothy Mcardle), The Sign of the Ram (Margaret Ferguson), The Undying Monster (Jessie Douglas Kerriush), and  Redeeming Time (me, unpublished – yet!).  What I admire in the first three (and try to emulate in the fourth), is the depth of characterization, the creation of a powerful mystical/eerie atmosphere, the vividness of the landscapes, and the intelligence of the storylines. signoftheram What makes them such a pleasure to read is their authors’ deftness with language:  there’s enough detail to savor and shape your imagination but no excess or filler.  Right now, I’m working on The Uninvited.  I review it and The Sign of the Ram on this web site, under Golden Age Mysteries.  The Undying Monster is part of the psychic detective genre, with a woman psychic brought in to help a scientist uncover the nature of the beast that has ravaged an ancient British family for centuries and now threatens to destroy his two close friends.  The novel deftly captures the post WWI fascination with psychic phenomenon and leads characters and readers into the dark depths of ancient ruins, crypts, and family history to reach a final, mystical resolution – and it’s a fun ride!

What’s Redeeming Time about?  Think H. P. Lovecraft meets film noir meets Indiana Jones meets Val Lewton.

Image of Gene Tierney from The Ghost and Mrs. Muir copyright 1946, 20th-Century Fox (http://classicbeckybrainfood.blogspot.com/2010/08/just-thought.html)

Horrors of the Yang Manse

Autumn, Gothic, Halloween, Hallpween Decorations, pumpkins, , , ,
.

So, last week, I showed you what the outside of the Yang House of Horrors looked like. party1 Here, I will give you some images of the interior decorations. How about a look at the evil bride who faced you as you ascended the stairs in the gloom of the evening?

party4

 

 

This creature looks especially scary, when you bathe her in a black light!

party19

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, when you look down the corridor, you want to be greeted and guided by Halloween denizens.party6

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, you defiintely need a comforting night light party20when you hit the bathroom on an eerie night like this.

 

 

 

We also have charming candles to guide you back down the stairs.party14

 

Watch out for otherworldly visitors peering in the window, maybe trying to lure you off to perdition. All I said to my friend Judy was, “Oh, Look. party18 There’s someone in the window behind you.” And this lost soul prompted a shriek from my pal. Judy still comes to my house, but she’s a little leery about glancing out the windows now.

The fireplace also has its share of holiday decor, including our home grown pumpkins! party16These bad boys/girls started growing as early as April and developed into lovely, strong pumpkins. We haven’t grown anything this big since we lived in Connecticut!

 

 

Now, my problem is going to be trying to measure dscn2498up to these decorations and those of years past. Ah well, who will I creep out this year? The trick is to place your creatures in shadows so that imagination does a large part of the work – especially when you hear sounds or glimpse preternatural beings in places where you wouldn’t expect them. Unfortunately, those kind of shadows don’t lend themselves to clear photographs, so they are hard to capture and present to you in pictures.

 

So, I’ll close with this goblin wishing you a fare thee well from atop his pumpkin throne! Enjoy your holiday, and be careful whom you invite to cross your threshold!

party21

 

Halloween, Yang style

Autumn, Cemeteries, Gothic, Halloween, Hallpween Decorations, New England, tomb stones, , ,
.

I just got all the tombstones and a few  haunting creatures up in my front yard.  I still have to add several more supernatural visitors, but the eerie atmosphere is starting to coalesce.  Just to give you an idea of what things will look like, I’ll share with you some images from last year’s outside decorations.

cemetery4 Here’s a vertical shot of the graveyard in the front lawn.  Yang joined in the fun by getting the iron fencing and putting it up for me.  Mr. Bones there seems to be chuckling over something the ghoul in black just told him.  Did they see into the future for this year’s election?

I think this chap iscemetery3 recovering from one of the Halloween parties that I have every year.  Either that or he’s someone I caught plagiarizing.  See any red marks on him?

We also were visited by a few witches, ghouls, and demons, flying joyously on the fall winds.  Some of them are looking right at you,cemetery6 and they seem awfully glad to see you – for what reason, I’m not sure.  it’s probably not good for you!

 

 

Back to those pesky skeletons again!  They’re worse than cemetery5ants in the summer – and just as hungry.  Heh, heh, heh!

 

 

And lest I forget, Here are some shots of our homemade dancing ghosts!  cemetery8These guys (or gals) usually go up closer to Halloween because if there’s too much rain and wind the ground gets too soft to support them and they become staggering, collapsing ghosts.  As Quentin and Beth say, there’s  nothing worse than cemetery7when your ectoplasm starts to sag!

 

 

 

 

 

So, I’ll just close with this nice horizontal shot of the whole front yard, to let you drink in the entire spooky panorama.  Try not to be too scared as you drive up the street.  This year, I have even some new tomb stones!  It may not be Mt. Auburn or Hope Cemetery, but it’s home sweet creepy home to me!  cemetery1

October Images Part Two

Autumn, Fall, Nature, New England, Rail Trails, Uncategorized, , , , ,
It’s December today, but we have no glittering snow icing, cool blue in the shade or soft pink in the sunset.  Just dead, crusty leaves and bare, scraggly branches.  So, how about one last lingering look at October’s brilliance?  These shots are from two trips, one afoot and one a-wheel!
Yang and I found a new bicycle ride outside of Boston, The Neponset River Trail, which runs along the river out to the Blue Hills.  Here is a portion that cuts along and across a canal (via a bridge of course!).  Neponset1The trees look striking, reflected in the water, and must provide a lovely view to people living in the mill converted to apartments.

 

 

We started the ride from Pope John Paul Park, Neponset2where the river is almost an estuary.  If you ride away from Milton, the river broadens and becomes tumultuous as it races toward the ocean.  Neponset4

 

 

 

 

 

 That’s not in any of these shots, though.

 

Neponset3Yang had a good time! We both had to pause for a rest on the way back!

 

 

 

 

Our other recorded trip was to the wilds of the forested hills of Leicester.Spidergate1 It was a lovely Friday afternoon, shortly after Yang got out of classes.  The colors here were a blend of yellow and toasted orange. Spidergate2

 

 

 

 

 

Spidergate4The red golds of autumn were not yet lying in the gutter dead (tip o’ the hat to Graeme Edge).
The hat in this shot would be my marine blue beret, which I bought in France last spring.  Spidergate3As long as we’re on international wardrobe, my in-laws from China gave me the coat when I visited them last autumn.

 

 

Delving into the woods, we came across the backwash from a pond.  Spidergate6The autumn sky’s pellucid blue is such a striking complement to green pines and the fall colors.

 

 

 

Hiking back to our car along the road, the evening began to close in, so that the last flare of the sun created a vibrant flame of color in the  trees.Spidergate7

 

 

 

 

 

All that tramping and beauty makes a body hungry.  So Yang and I repaired to Le Mirage for sustenance. As you can see, Mr. Piranha made short work of his meal.
Spidergate8 Sadly, this was the last night of this wonderful restaurant.  Le Mirage is now closed, and so  lovely meals, good times, and good friends are now relegated to memories. Much thanks to Diane, her family, and her staff.