TONGUES OF FLAME

Fiery Japanese Maple (it really was red!)
from an early morning walk at Villa Montalvo, CA

What is sometimes called a

     tongue of flame

or an arm extended burning

     is only the long

red and orange branch of 

     a green maple

                          

------ from "Autumn" by Grace Paley

Forgive my fascination with Nature in Autumn.  Everything else pales in comparison.

I've been rather pathetic photographing outfits lately.  If it makes you feel any better, I have been boring my personal friends with images from autumn walks.  No surprise, my initial efforts at vigorous exercise on these walks are always thwarted by the views.  So, I will be happily plump this Fall, engaged in visual calisthenics instead.

Are the autumn colors peaking where you are?  

***********

On a separate note, I wanted to thank Debi of Fly Songbird for passing 2 blogging awards to me.  I was completely caught by surprise and so honored.

Debi is one of the most genuine, young bloggers around.  Her blog is an honest, sometimes wonderfully raw, account of things she loves and hates.  Often, I even learn a thing or two about Indian culture!  

I had promised her an answer to the following questions:

1. Favorite Color:  If it's on the color wheel, I like it.
2. Favorite Song: Tough to choose, like having to choose a favorite note.
3. Favorite Dessert: Anything made with bitter, dark chocolate, and a touch of liqueur.
4. What makes you mad?: Incompetent people who refuse to admit their incompetence.
5. When you're upset: I clench my jaws tightly.  The Dentist says I am a Grinder.
6. Favorite Animal: Those found in nature.  Not into pets.
7. Black or White?: Black. Sometimes White.
8. Biggest fear: This seems to be something I should only be telling a psychoanalyst.
9. Best feature: Long neck, minus the wrinkles increasingly circling it.
10. Everyday attitude: Do what you love and do it well.
11. What is perfection?: Something we, as humans, constantly reach for and a few actually achieve.
12. Guilty Pleasure: Watching a thriller or adrenaline-junkie film.

Thank you so much again for including me in this selection.  I enjoy several of the blogs on that list!