Captain Z's One Wish

         As promised, I am back to let you  know the only thing I would ask of you as my fellow adventurous scallywags.  My purpose in starting this public narrative is to be able to share the fruits of my passion with you. Photography is one of my passions and after seeing my parents' kitchen walls become covered in photos I've taken, I realized my pictures are at least a little above average.  I was honored and delighted that my mom, who has great decorating taste, found my photos to be worthy of decorating the room where the most family time occurs.

Thank you again, Mom.

          Since this realization, I decided that posting my photos on Facebook where only close friends and family can see them is not enough.  Maybe someone else would enjoy seeing and even using some of my photos.  My boyfriend's sister recently asked for permission to make sketches of my photos for a portfolio, and I was delighted all over again!

          So here I am, and here are my photos.  They are for you.  As I said last time, please feel free to use them.  Copy and save them to your computer, use them as desktop backgrounds, share them, print them and hang them, Pin them (I do), use them in class projects, enjoy them!  The only thing that I ask is that you please give me credit for them.  I am placing my name on each photo to make giving credit easy.  I am dating them and even adding the location if they were taken in public places so that if you feel inspired you can explore those places, too.  If you would like to know what a certain plant is, feel free to ask.  I don't know all of them, but I can try to find out for you.

I like the way the grass stands out among all the warm colors.

          I recently bought myself a new camera, and I've been playing around with it a lot.  I'll tell you about my camera adventures another time.  Fall is a great time to see what a new camera can do with all the bold colors.  On my way home today I decided to play with the sunlight and leaves around a beautiful sugar maple.  This tree has been bright orange, red, and green all mixed for over a week and I've already visited it once before today.  Last time, though, it was overcast so the sun wasn't shining through the leaves consistently.  I was also using my own settings on the camera instead of the auto mode.  Today I let the camera show me what auto can do.

          I was quite pleased with the results.  The leaves on this tree aren't all changing at the same rate.  Some are still mostly green while others are mostly red/orange.  The changes happen from the outside, in.  They start turning orange around the edge and it slowly moves in and darkens.  This picture demonstrates the many stages of color change very well.

Of course, not all trees change at the same time either, or in the same way.  This is why we all love fall instead of seeing it as a foreboding sign of winter coming (Game of Thrones, anyone?).  My boyfriend was in California over the summer and he was told that in the fall the leaves don't change color. I better start calling him D because calling him boyfriend is strange when we're not little boys and girls anymore.  I can't imagine going through fall without watching leaves change color.  The few falls we do get where the leaves don't get the opportunity to change before turning brown or falling off the trees are sad seasons.  Winter needs a proper welcome!

          My last stop before heading indoors was a tour around the yard.  I had to stop to capture this image because I like the stages of dandelion growth, too.  How many of you still want to pick these puff balls, make a wish, and blow?  The mischievous side of me always enjoyed blowing these through the yard when the wind blew towards our neighbors with no dandelions in their yard.  Who doesn't want these beautiful yellow flowers dotting their yard?  The leaves are soft for stepping on barefoot and even edible!  Oh well, I guess not everyone is as appreciative of natural beauty as I am.