August, die she must.
The autumn winds blow chilly and cold.
September, I’ll remember.
A love once new has now grown old.  {Paul Simon}

Another month has come and gone. How did the summer fly so fast? It always feels like we hit June and then the universe enters warp drive and suddenly the summer is over. But what a great summer it was. Full of so many great things….travel and family and friends. What could be better? Honestly? I’m a little sad. Fall is my absolute favorite time of year and I haven’t gotten to experience it in earnest in nearly 5 years. Living in the San Francisco Bay area we didn’t really get “Fall” like you do in the midwest or east coast, but once November rolls around some of the trees do their best to put on a full color display. But Florida? Words like autumn, fall, foliage, crisp air, crunching leaves? Florida does not know these words. (Florida also doesn’t know SNOW, and for that one, I won’t judge her.) So, I’m going to rely on all of YOU to send me your best fall pictures so I can live vicariously through you!

So guess what? Today is the 253rd day of the year. That means that for 253 days I have taken and posted at least one photo per day. What?! I know, I can’t believe it either. I started this Project 365 on a whim on January 1st. I didn’t put any pressure on myself, I just did it. Believe me, my track record for finishing big projects is not the best. As a kid I BEGGED for latch hook rug kits for my birthday and Christmas (remember those?)….I don’t even want to tell you how many half finished rugs of kitties and rainbows are stuffed in a box in my parent’s basement. Anyway, let’s just agree that my track record hasn’t always been great. But here I am, 253 days down, 112 to go. Think I can do it? I’ve had some great inspiration thus far….read on.

Remember back in July I told you how I was launching my own 30 Day Photo challenge? I called it Summer Twilight 30, intended to help people capture the last bits of summer before she flew away. We started on August 7th and finished up last week. We had nearly 60 participants from all over the world and I am SO proud of all they accomplished. They learned how to use Instagram, what a hashtag is…and most importantly, they learned that they each have a gift to look at the world in a different and mindful way.  That they each have the unique eye to create beautiful and lasting images. In partnership with Artifact Uprising, they will each be making a beautiful heirloom book of their photos. So so proud of each one of them. I’ll be featuring some of their images in my next blog post, so make sure to check back and see their awesomeness. AND, they loved it so much and I loved it even more that I’m already planning the next round. We’ll be doing a Fall Frenzy 30 Day photo challenge starting toward the end of October. Are you ready? Sign up now! I would love to have you….and you will LOVE being a part of this amazing group of budding photographers.

As a result of the Summer Twilight 30, I decided to take my photos with my phone for the month of August. Since that is what most of my challengers were using, I wanted to challenge myself to see what kind of images I could produce using only my phone.  And here they are! My Project 365 photos from August. Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for joining me on this journey, friends. So yes, August, die she must, but autumn holds a magical promise. I hope you’ll help me find it by joining in the Fall Frenzy: 30 Day photo challenge. Click here to sign up!

be joyful,

michaela

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XXXIX (from Last Poems by A.E. Houseman)

When summer’s end is nighing
And skies at evening cloud,
I muse on change and fortune
And all the feats I vowed
When I was young and proud.

The weathercock at sunset
Would lose the slanted ray,
And I would climb the beacon
That looked to Wales away
And saw the last of day.

From hill and cloud and heaven
The hues of evening died;
Night welled through lane and hollow
And hushed the countryside,
But I had youth and pride.

And I with earth and nightfall
In converse high would stand,
Late, till the west was ashen
And darkness hard at hand,
And the eye lost the land.

The year might age, and cloudy
The lessening day might close,
But air of other summers
Breathed from beyond the snows,
And I had hope of those.

They came and were and are not
And come no more anew;
And all the years and seasons
That ever can ensue
Must now be worse and few.

So here’s an end of roaming
On eves when autumn nighs:
The ear too fondly listens
For summer’s parting sighs,
And then the heart replies.