Tag: Autumn

Friday Morning FYI – 9/30/2016

Ron Delaney Jr2 Comments

Welcome to your Friday Morning FYI – my chance to share observations/wisdom/rants in short, easily consumed form.

Autumn is here, and that means apple picking, long walks in cool night air, and camping/hiking among the fall foliage (maybe that last one is just a few of us). Hitting a local orchard with my girlfriend last weekend (seriously people, come out to west NJ) I happened upon a gorgeous monarch butterfly down on the grass. I took a few pics, and then not wanting him to get trampled, decided to see if he’d climb onto my hand so I could put him up on a tree. The result was three very cool minutes of communing with that little guy. I think I’ll make that this week’s FYI (yup, no lecture, no wisdom, just some pics):

Butterfly climbs onto my hand Butterfly on my hand  Butterfly on hand

 

Thanks for reading,

{RDj}

Tattoos and rotten pumpkins

Ron Delaney Jr2 Comments

A lot of people want tattoos, but many fret over the permanence: that they’ll pick something they won’t want to look at after <insert random measure of time here>. You know how you avoid that? Go with something you love.

Five years ago, as is my and many people’s Autumn tradition, I placed several pumpkins and mums in front of my place. I then left them there for way too long, to the point the pumpkins turned into orange sacks of mush and seeds. Once I finally cleaned them up, I paid no mind to the seeds left behind on the dirt. Then, in the Summer, what anyone who knows anything about nature (not me, apparently) could predict, happened:

Pumpkin Vines

Pumpkin vines! How cool is that?

Shortly after, the most gorgeous, wondrous blossoms blossomed!

Pumpkin Blossoms

Pumpkin blossom in the sun

I was hooked by the stunning flowers, and repeated the place pumpkins -> let them rot -> wait for vines and blossoms process until my condo association decided to cover my little patch of dirt with stones. Because rocks are prettier than flowers, I guess.

Still, my love of these late-Summer bloomers remains undeterred. SO, if I can’t watch them grow naturally, why not put one on my arm?

Yes, that’s tattoo logic right there. Don’t analyze it, just accept it 😀

Artwork done by the most-excellent artist Chris Adamek at Immortal Ink in Clinton, NJ.

 

Thanks for reading,

{RDj}

The Emptiness of Delete

Ron Delaney JrLeave a comment
This weekend has been perfectly Autumn. Cold, clean air, falling leaves, and bone-chilling rain. To some, that kind of weather sucks, but to me – an October baby and loyal lover of all thing Fall (except this devilry) – it’s the best time of year, and really gets my creativity going.
On that note, here’s a weird, sad little thing that came to me the other day on a long ride through a persistent storm. Nothing fancy, just a rumination on how people see and feel things drastically differently (not just the weather).

Continue reading “The Emptiness of Delete” →

Apple Picking – Another Thing I love About Autumn

Ron Delaney JrLeave a comment

I make no apologies for being a cold-weather person. When I tell friends and co-workers that I love winter and can’t wait for snow, they universally gasp in horror. I can’t say that I blame them, we’ve had a few rough years here in NJ (and all of the north east), so everyone is a bit shell-shocked. Once I mention that my first love is Autumn, though, I always get nods and smiles.

Over at FIX.com, there’s a great write-up on one of my favorite things: Apple Picking (I love it so much, I capitalized it. Don’t hate.) There are some nice history and cool info graphics to help everyone finish up the season (already over in most places, I know), and get ready for next year. Check it out.

 

Thanks for reading,
{RDj}