Out With the Old

Happy New Year!

Mailbox ~ Hardware No. 5

Red Leaves

I can't promise for certain but I THINK this will be the end of this year's autumn leaves.  

I'll just have to find a  new theme.

Orange

I promise to quit posting pictures of autumn leaves soon!  The last couple of days many of the trees have finally become denuded and the colors are beginning to fade. 

The picture below is of a mighty oak in the pasture directly behind our house.  I love how the leaves fall and create a blanket of color under the tree.

And then of course there's this walk that I take abut three times a week down the hill, around the curve, and up another hill to my grandmother and grandfather's old homeplace.  The only thing that's left there is an old car house (which we now call a garage) and some stones to mark the location of a cistern.  Oh, and some of my grandmother's daffodils  and iris!

 

"Orange is red brought nearer to humanity by yellow." –Kandinsky

A Plethora of Signs

Jacksonville, Texas

And Then the Rains Came

It's been raining the past four or five days here in Deep East Texas.  It's getting a bit soggy but we don't dare complain because it just may mean that our horrible drought could be coming to an end.  Ponds are beginning to fill again, there is plenty of water for deer and livestock and the others critters that call our woods home.  Creeks are running once more.  Some are actually out of their banks for the first time in years.  The rain does, however, bring down some of the autumn foliage which is still so abundant here due to our temperate climate.  The oaks are finally turning - at least some varieties. They spread their leaves all along the roadsides and within a couple of days lose their brilliant color and turn brown and dry out - or get more soggy depending on the weather.  I drove down this country road yesterday and didn't have time to stop for a picture so I went out again today in the rain to see what I could get before they lose their color or all blow away in the next couple of days.

Memories of Christmases Past

Spotted in a salvage yard

Center, Texas

Happy Acres

This is the entrance to a neighbor's farm.  The lady who lived there and my mom had been friends for 84 years until our neighbor died suddenly last winter.  Her daughter and grandson still operate her farm.

Door Knocker ~ Hardware No. 4

The Goodman Mansion (1853)

 Tyler, Texas

Caledonia Cemetery

The Colors of Christmas

Fence No. 10

Cattle chute on a farm adjacent to ours.

Old Habits Die Hard

Even though the Kellys left about a half-century ago and there have been several owners during the years, we still continue to call this old barn a half-mile from our house the Old Kelly Dairy Barn.  I think they would be pleased at how beautiful the little barn looks under those big oak trees which surely have grown tall and strong in the intervening years.  Our oaks are finally turning and they are spectacular.

Nachitoches Hardware Store

I absolutely LOVE hardware stores, especially the old-fashioned kind like this one I found on my recent trip to Natchitoches, Louisiana.  I could spend hours in a place like this and I intend to do just that on another trip.  Well, maybe not hours, plural, because there's lots of other stuff in Natchitoches that I really want to see.  I thought this one was especially cool since it was still located right smack-dab downtown facing the river walk and in the midst of fancy boutiques which cater to tourists.

Post Office ~ Martinsville, Texas

In the 1850s Dr. John Martin, a native of Alabama, settled about 10 miles from where I live and established a large plantation.  Around 1857 he built a mill and for many years the community was known as Martin's Mill or Martin City.  When residents applied for a post office in 1867 under the name Martin's Mill, they were informed that there was already a community by that name, so the name was changed to Martinsville.  The post office operated from 1867 until 1988 when this new building was constructed.  I'm sure it's one of few log post offices in the country and I think it is absolutely delightful.  Although the Texas Historical Association only estimated Martinsville to have 126 residents in 2000 it is a crossroad of two major roads in this area and the Martinsville Independent School District serves many rural students in the area from K through 12.  Its girls' basketball team is always a major force in district and frequently statewide competition.

Iron Horse ~ Hardware No. 3

These vintage iron horses still grace the streets of the business section of Natchitoches, Louisiana, 

which was founded in 1714 and is the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase Territory. 

Waiting Their Turn

The leaves of the sycamores, the Chinese tallows, the sweet gums, the pecans, the black walnuts, the maples, the crape myrtles, the dogwoods, the chinaberries, and the sumacs have all turned.  Only certain varieties of the mighty oaks are waiting their turn to transition from green to the shades of autumn.

What do horses think about?

1.  Mother was right.  I should have never gotten that tattoo on my neck!
2.  A spa day would really feel good right about now!
3.  I hate looking at cameras!
4.  So much so I think I'll just pout!

What do you think?

Vintage Fire Engine

Fence No. 9

Photographed at Gladewater, Texas

Lodge House ~ Bronson, Texas

Back Doors No. 7 ~ Jefferson, Texas

I'm always amazed at what I DON'T see when I'm taking pictures but observe for the first time during the edit process.  These back doors, photographed while strolling through an alleyway in Jefferson, Texas, called to me because of the red peeling paint.  But upon closer inspection I wonder what is that object behind the window panes.  What do you think it is?  When I return to Jefferson, which I'm sure I will, I'll have to find these back doors again and see if it's still there and maybe then I can discover its identity.  Until then ....

Autumn's Brilliance ...

... is rapidly fading.