the writing and photography of Neil Kramer

Tag: fall

The Trees Are Indian Princes

Bright yellow, red, and orange,
The leaves come down in hosts;
The trees are Indian princes,
But soon they’ll turn to ghosts.

— William Allingham (1824-1889), Irish poet

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Green how I want you green.
Green wind. Green branches.

Federico García Lorca (1898-1936), Spanish poet, playwright

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her swung breasts
Sway like full-blown yellow
Gloire de Dijon roses.

D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930), British poet and author

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the great orange bed where we lie
like two frozen paintings in a field of poppies.

Anne Sexton (1928-1974), American poet and writer

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Swinging
clusters of red, the hedges are full of them,
red-currant red, a graceful
ornament or a merry smile.

Denise Levertov (b. 1923), Anglo-American poet

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Thanks for bringing a little Fall to Southern California.

The photographers are:

GREEN

Pam, Austria

Sweet, Washington D.C.

Boutros, Virginia

Dagny, Berkeley

Rhea, Boston

YELLOW

Dana, Connecticut

Tara, Iowa City

Joan, Winnipeg

Caitlin, New York

ORANGE

Jessica, St. Louis

Jenny, Chicago

Alison, Kentucky

Chantel, Portland

Sarah, Pennsylvania

Elizabeth, New Hampshire

RED

Cynical Girl, New York

Elisabeth, Pennsylvania

Pearl, Ottawa

Marianne, Massachusetts

Turning Over a New Leaf

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I fasted today, but I didn’t go to temple for Yom Kippur.  I just didn’t feel like going.  On Yom Kippur, there is an important memorial service, and it would have been the first time going to the service for my father, and I just didn’t want to do it.  So, instead, I just broke all the rules.  I went to CVS pharmacy, bought myself a $3.99 disposable camera and walked to Hermosa Beach.  It felt very spiritual walking around the beach looking for photos to take.  Or then again, it could have just been hunger.

If you have any interest, you can see the photos here.  One warning:  the photos are not THAT interesting, and I’m not in any of them, so don’t get too pissed at making you do an extra click of the mouse for nothing.   If you’re never been this this part of the country, maybe you can get a sense of the “sleepy” beach community I’m living in right now. 

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I’ve grown to like Southern California, but I find October depressing in the dry West.  I love FALL.  I love what it represents — a new beginning.  I think the time of the Jewish New Year makes a lot more sense than January 1st.   I love the change of the weather and the leaves and the new school year and the new TV season, and everything new that goes with Fall.  As I was taking my walk today, I realized that today’s weather in Los Angeles was not that much different than it was on July 4th!  Where’s the change? 

Most of my blogging friends do NOT live in California.  I know you sometimes laugh at us for being weird and electing actors to be governor, uh – TWICE.   But try to remember that the State of California has enhanced your life in many ways:  the birth of the internet, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, California Pizza Kitchen, and the word “gnarly.” 

Now it is your turn to pay us back —

Could someone help a Southern Californian who is homesick for Fall and email him a photo of a leaf or tree changing colors?

A Year Ago on Citizen of the Month:  Man in the Mirror

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