Yesterday I gathered up my camera and headed out for a walk and to get some more fall color. I walked down the road to see if the horses were out so I could explore the world of animal photography. Even though the sun was shining and the temperature was very pleasant, they decided they would prefer to be in the barn. Horse photography is now something to look forward to next year.

As I started walking back, I saw a lane I had never noticed before – heading up through some woods. I love walking in the woods, especially in the fall so I had to explore.

There were leaves on the tire paths, and patches of color among the lower green of the underbrush. What fun smelling the musty smell of dying leaves while feeling the cool fall air, and looking for ways to capture the beauty of the whole. Sometimes trying to capture all that we see means that we loose so many of the details that the eye picks up.

Competing with all the small patches of color along the way that I captured from multiple angles, there was also the excitement, nervousness, curiosity of what lies ahead on a trail that is not posted as private but also not public.

As I rounded a bend, I realized that there were two houses back here so I took a couple of photos of plants and left as quietly as I arrived so as to not attract attention or disturb their privacy.

I am always amazed that walking back along the same path can seem like an entirely new place. Seeing the same things from a different perspective can be like seeing them for the first time. Maybe I need to make sure that I turn around and see the other side of more aspects of my life.

And then I started the walk back to the main road. I could tell that the wind was picking up or maybe it was feeling more threatening because I could see the dark clouds rolling in. I wasn’t worried because I wasn’t too far from home but I also knew I shouldn’t dawdle.

Of course there were many pictures that were part of my “learning curve”. Ones that didn’t turn out as exciting as they were when I framed them in my viewfinder. Ones that just weren’t as exciting when I took them out of their surroundings. And of course the ones where I got the settings wrong or the wind was blowing too hard, or I moved too much. But taking those are also fun. As I reached the road I noticed the corner post of the fence that surrounds the horse farm. I hadn’t seen it the first time I walked past – or the hundreds of times I drove past it in my car.

It has been here a long time because it leans; this isn’t an example of my crooked picture taking. Isn’t life wonderful when we can continually see new things in our neighborhood.

As I turned down the street towards my house, I was struck by the signs that winter is on it’s way. There are many trees that have lost all their leaves and the clouds are hanging heavier these days. We are also noting how much shorter the days have been. I have been thinking that it is later than it actually is in the evening because it is already dark out.

This confirms that it is time to take this old body to warmer parts. We leave for Florida in the morning. As I was turning the bend towards our driveway, I got a last image of the most beautiful view in the neighborhood. Even though I am eager to see the tropical foliage awaiting me, I am sad about leaving the last of the fall color. You can be sure that I’ll not miss a single tree as we travel through Ohio, Kentucky & Tennessee.