Dark wall

dark wall, originally uploaded by jahansell.

With the rain and wind we had yesterday, the leaves have mostly come down. But I took this a few days ago when we were still at the peak of fall color.

Sedum

sedum, originally uploaded by jahansell.

I have to post a few flower photos - fall sedum is subtle and surprisingly delicate.

Indian Mountain Road Farm or is it...?

farm with towers, originally uploaded by jahansell.

Doesn't this farm remind you, just a little, of one of those Eastern European churches with the onion domes?

Like this one: http://photos.igougo.com/pictures-photos-p369732-Typical_Russian_Onion_Domes.html

No?

Well it's a classic New England Farm, then!

One last nasturtium

nasturtium, originally uploaded by jahansell.

A few flowers have survived the recent light freezes - when almost everything else is dull and yellow-brown, this tiny nasturtium hangs on.

On Indian Mountain Road

house in autumn, originally uploaded by jahansell.

The shapes, the surfaces, the proportions of everything around us look different, more abstracted, blended together in October. Photographically, it's difficult - you can't have the specific and the general in the same picture, it seems. Part of the problem is with contrast - the brights are so brilliant that the camera can't take it all in - the shadows turn to undifferentiated black.

Yellow red

yellow red, originally uploaded by jahansell.

I couldn't help it - I had to take some pictures of the perfect color - this has been such a lovely fall! (At least the last few days have been, wiping out the memory of the snow, the cold and the rain we had earlier in the month!)

Day Off

bryant park, originally uploaded by jahansell.

I went to NYC for a day recently ... had a chance to walk through Bryant Park. What a lovely spot! The two men on benches look like bookends- as though they were placed there by the garden designer to match the repeating themes of purple and green.

Water, rocks, flowers

water and rocks, originally uploaded by jahansell.

We've had a few light frosts already - my morning glories are done - but there are still a few things in bloom - they'll hang in there a few more weeks, I think!

Change in the landscape

sbt in Millerton, originally uploaded by jahansell.

Salisbury Bank & Trust is coming to Millerton, and how! The branch they're building at the corner of Maple and Main is looming high (and moving fast after months of what seemed like nothing happening at all.)

It took the place of a tiny strip plaza that contained a restaurant (the cheap but tasty Broadway Pizza, for the first few years I worked in town, and then, briefly, something else that failed) and an auto parts shop. I wonder: will having a third bank here in town change the dynamic, the business community, the micro-economy in any noticeable way?

Dark sky bright hills

dark sky bright hills, originally uploaded by jahansell.

When the sun came out after a storm, it lit up the yellow hillside.

Waterfront in fall

waterfront in fall, originally uploaded by jahansell.

A cormorant sat on the dock, regarding the quiet water of Mudge Pond.

Snow - October 15

snow in october, originally uploaded by jahansell.

It's already melting away, but the children frolicked while it lasted!

Twin Oaks, fall

DSC_8193, originally uploaded by jahansell.

this completes the set. I took a shot of the oaks last fall too, but didn't get such a vivid color. (Not sure if it's showing up very well in this edit!) Of course today, the day after, it's been dusted by snow - if it hasn't melted by morning I'll try to trek up the hill one more time!

Dahlias

dahlias, originally uploaded by jahansell.

Why, oh why, don't I have dahlias in my garden? I visited White Flower Farm in Litchfield, where the demonstration gardens are always breathtaking. (Unlike my garden, where the zinnias get eaten by the deer, the potatoes had nesting voles, and the weird climbing vine took over everything!)

I am definitely planting lots of dahlias for next year - deer, beware!

Tom and Huck

Tom and Huck, originally uploaded by jahansell.

A group of teenage boys has been painting the picket fence in front of the Methodist Church on the corner of the green. I love that fence - it's a great landmark to tell people where my driveway is, and now it's sparkling white again.