I traveled to Istanbul last week to meet with my team from work, and as my friend Gracie would say, I was Turkish delighted. The city’s history stretches back almost 1700 years, its population is twice that of New York City, and the city straddles two continents: we stayed on the European side of the city, and we were able to hop on a ferry to take a day trip to Asia. The city is full of riches: ancient history, architecture, culture, food, cats*. It stimulated every sense, at all times.
Mosaic and tile at Istanbul Archaeology MuseumDoor to tile building at Istanbul Archaeology MuseumTurkish tea setsAt the Grand BazaarLamp shop at the Grand BazaarCat 7 of 492Turkish DelightAt the Grand BazaarTurkish Breakfast, first courseLeaving Europe to go to AsiaLeaving the Europe side, about to cross the Bosphorous. Our Airbnb was near the tower on the left (Galata Tower).Our team walked an hour on the Asia side of Istanbul to find this cat statue.In the antique districtSidewalk backgammonAt the ferry dock on the Europe sideGraffiti at the pier; we walked by this wall each time we crossed the Golden Horn (an inlet of the Bosphorous River) to get to the Grand Bazaar and mosquesKitty outside my favorite coffee shopBooks and Coffee. I liked their coffee best.The view from our Airbnb: the Golden Horn waterway, Hagia Sofia mosque (maybe? maybe not — there were many mosques), and our resident seagull who squawked at us all day while we worked.
*The cats in Istanbul might have been my favorite part. See Kedi, a documentary with lots of beautiful footage of the city and its kitties. Also, our day trip to Asia included lunch at Ciya, featured in season 5 episode 2 of Chef’s Table. The food was phenomenal, but it’s not in this post; I was too busy eating to get any photos.
The trees are starting to change, leaves are starting to drop, and the colors in the garden are beautiful.
Bronzes and golds and garnet redsGuess it’s time to put the hammock away View from the back deckI cannot get enough of these grasses. I love the gold and copper tassels.Autumn joy sedum. It’s color just keeps getting deeper.
We have all the windows open, and the world outside is cool and wet. We’ll get a lot of rain tonight. I’m glad — it’ll water in my mums. I’m wearing a flannel shirt, jeans, and socks, and I considered pulling on my slippers. We’re not quite to slipper season yet, though. We’ve got freshly stacked firewood for when that day comes, and judging by the current weather and the flowers in bloom in the garden, that day may be soon.
I took my camera for a walk around the flower beds this morning before the rain began. We are in full on caterpillar season. I need to cut back some of the dead stuff but I don’t have the energy for that right now. So let’s just pretend it’s not there.
Goldenrod and mumsLantana and goldenrodMonarch caterpillar on nepetaAutumn joy sedumSwallowtail caterpillar on ruePink cleomeFront bedsZinnias taking overMonarch caterpillars out back, grasses and mums out front
I’ve felt very fragile since we dropped our son off at college. I’ve had trouble sleeping, and I feel jittery and strung out. Work has been hectic, which has been hard. My team lead encouraged me to be gentle with myself in the coming weeks because she knew this would be an emotional time for our family, but sometimes work and the world don’t really allow for going easy. There’s too much to do. I’m too far behind. I got Covid two weeks before our son left, and I could not afford to lose that time at work, and I’m still trying to catch up.
I did finish something at work on Friday that had been weighing on me for weeks, and that kept getting shoved to the bottom of my ever-growing list, so I was at least able to sleep this weekend having finally gotten a draft out for review. I feel better after sleeping past 4am on Saturday and then again on Sunday.
My chest still feels thick sometimes despite feeling otherwise recovered from Covid. I mowed the lawn on Friday and it wore me out. Sunday I wanted to get out of the house and out of my head, and I wanted to do that in the woods, on a hike, with my camera. I didn’t feel up for anything strenuous, and it was hot out, so my husband picked a short, flattish hike a little higher up in the mountains where it would be cooler: the War Spur trail near Mountain Lake Lodge, where Dirty Dancing was filmed.
The trail was shaded and green, and the air smelled fresh, especially when we dipped down into a stream-bed where clear water trickled over mossy stones. The hike is known for having lots of mushrooms, and we probably saw two dozen different kinds. They’re delicate little things, fragile but grounded. Those earthy mushrooms, the fat acorns, and a smattering of red leaves in green ferns were what I needed to feel some peace.
Mushrooms and moss, I love the combination (and the little mushroom hiding in the lower right)Gills and dirt.Puffball in the understory.Eight different yellow, brown, copper, and toast-colored mushroomsI love the gills and cup shape, and the moss and green leavesFall is coming, and I’m happy about that.
We’re visiting family in Florida. Yesterday, I woke early to walk on the beach before it got boiling hot. I took my camera with me, and it turns out I didn’t end up walking very much. I wanted to play with some of the basics I’m learning in my photography class — motion, leading lines, contrast — so I ended up stopping every few feet to snap photos. I also wanted to mix it up a little with my photographs; I’ve got a thousand shots of the Gulf of Mexico being the Gulf of Mexico in it’s beautiful blues and greens. I switched to black and white, and I had fun capturing the beach in a totally different way.
I started a new photography blog to help me curate some of my favorite photos and also track the camera settings on them so I can learn. It’s at photo.andreabadgley.blog if you’re interested.
Sometimes decay can be beautiful. I walked the garden one day looking for dried and cracked textures, for discarded parts, for nature in a state of decomposition. For something different than I usually look for. There is so much to see when when you look beyond the fresh bloom at the beginning of life. This was a a wonderful reminder to observe more than the obvious: flowers and butterflies are beautiful in all their colorful glory, and so are brown branches and brittle dry flower petals.
Remains of cut flowers in the compost pileHydrangea in the compostA rose bloom in its death throesHydrangea in the leaf litter
Of course, all of these dead and dying things are fodder for other life: ants, fruit flies, centipedes, and worms all feed on them. Rain and wind, friction and feet, biting mouths and digestive tracts break them down until they are dirt again.
And sometimes, before that happens, a creature will gather these shed strands, forgotten fragments, and castoff clumps into soft shelters for new life to be born.
Butterfly Mind 