My grandson and I embarked upon one of our ‘family traditions’ Saturday afternoon...our annual fall color photo hunt. Getting lost is at least 50% of the fun of the whole event, at least for me -- the getting lost aspect just totally unnerves my 10 year old grandson. Fortunately, it seems no matter how far off the beaten path I may tend to wander, my inner radar always leads back to a familiar road before it becomes necessary to make any phone calls for assistance (how did we ever live without mobile phones?!). We have several of these traditions actually -- the community tour/hunt for July 4th fireworks, the fall leaf hunt and the tour of Christmas lights on Christmas eve.

Out here in the rural South, you don’t have to go to a highfalutin’ professional fireworks show for entertainment following the traditional BBQ fest on July 4th. Country folk will spend HUNDREDS of dollars annually for their own varied assortment of fireworks -- and the presentations are usually quite spectacular, especially when they’re lighting up the sky in every direction around you, no matter where you stand to watch.

Living in a rural area also provides great backdrops for scenic landscapes dotted with fall color. I tend to look for shots with little or no sign of civilization -- just unpolluted nature. As it becomes increasingly difficult for simple folk to maintain an adequate living through agricultural endeavors, local farmers are selling more and more land to developers -- subdivision housing developments are taking over. But ‘pockets’ of folks maintaining mini-farms (like mine) are still clinging to the country life amidst the influx of ‘civilization,’ and thanks to the zoom lens and the creative freedom of the paintbrush, great scenes can still be rooted out and preserved.

Then there’s the Christmas lights -- Southern country folk LOVE to decorate for Christmas. I’ve never outgrown the thrill of a child at the sight of bright colored lights and fanciful shapes of Santa Claus and reindeer breaking up the commonness of the normally dark country nights. Admittedly, many such rural displays are really a bit overdone and some, downright corny/gaudy, yet the kids and I are drawn to them like moths to a porch light.

Our first 2004 fall color hunting expedition went well yesterday -- we got some GREAT reference shots for future paintings! As usual, there were many great shots/views that had to be passed by because there was no adequate place to park. It was cloudy, which is generally better lighting for fall color than bright sun, but there were some potentially good shots that just didn’t get good exposures with all settings on automatic. As the cloud cover increased and the day neared sunset (wherever the sun WAS), it got too dark too early and some of my last shots just didn’t cut it either. I’d love to go photo hunting again tomorrow, but have some financial crap to work on (I HATE numbers) that can’t wait and the weather is supposed to be rainy. Maybe there will be some color left on Thanksgiving -- that is if I’m able to MOVE after gorging myself on the annual Thanksgiving fare. All in all though, even if I don’t get out again before the color’s gone, I got some great shots...probably way more than I’ll find time to paint between now and autumn 2005.

Speaking of turkeys...during our expedition, we passed an open meadow COVERED with big, fat, wild turkeys. They were proudly strutting about all over the meadow, in full, clear view...less than a week before Thanksgiving! Duh....