Gourds, Goldenrod, California Condor

I love this time of year, cool mornings and evenings with leaves starting to fall. When I'm at the grocery store I look for these colorful bumpy gourds. Just yesterday they showed up, so I got a small bag for display. They'll last quite a while as a still life, much longer than cut flowers. Here are the gourds in my rusty look, rustic basket.

I've seen goldenrod growing along the roadside here but haven't stopped to pick a bunch. Seeing it reminded me of a drive Gary and I took up Blue Ridge National Wildlife Refuge in 2007 when we lived in California. The goldenrod there is much sparser than it is here due to the hot and dry terrain; I guess there are hundreds of varieties.

The Blue Ridge Refuge was set aside to help protect the California condor, the largest North American land bird. In 1987 there were only 22 condors left in the wild and all were captured and taken to the San Diego Zoo for protection and breeding. In 1991 condors were reintroduced back into the wild. At this time there are 405 known condors with 226 living in the wild. Thank goodness their numbers are returning. At an almost ten foot wing span, seeing a condor in the wild must really be something. Can you imagine one riding the thermals? Photo by Phil Armitage released to the public domain. Happy almost Autumn to you.

Shape, Texture, Groups