I do not know what this tree is. [Now I’ve learned it’s sorrel tree or Oxydendrum arboreum.] The fall leaves are brilliant red (taken a month ago) but it almost looks like it’s flowering. I also like that the white sky gives it an almost Christmassy look. A rainy walk in the neighborhood can yield wonderful things, if you’re a photo junkie like me. Visit Ruby Tuesday for more visions of red around the planet, Color Carnival for more brilliant colors, and SOOC for more straight-out-of-the-camera shots.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

Only two months ago, but such a difference. Outside the rain continues, but I can marvel at the perfection of a dahlia that was. Didn’t my garden look good? This was a great gardening year in Seattle, and I salute it.

For more flowers around the world, visit Flowers for Today. And visit Color Carnival for more brilliant colors. Try Macro Monday for more intriguing close ups, and Mellow Yellow Monday for more, well, yellow.

And I’ve chosen this post for my Best Post of the Week (BPOTW). If you’d like to see more self-selected posts of an incredible variety, check it out.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

I saw this dappled sunlight (my favorite) on a path back in September. What a beautiful day it was, and the scene seems to call for dancing fairies, or pan pipes.

For more shadows of all kinds, visit Shadow Shot Sunday. And it’s certainly a good post for Scenic Sunday, and SOOC (straight out of the camera) as well.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

It’s been gray, gray, gray and raining, even more than usual here in Seattle. It’s rained 5 or 6 inches in the last few weeks, with not even a sunbreak very often. This photo of a rose was taken in someone else’s garden in September, not that long ago, but it seems so far away. For more blissful pinkness, visit Pink Saturday.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE: I’m repeating this info about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

Flying to Las Vegas recently, we flew over an amazing lake that I recognized from above. What’s surprising is that there is so much beautiful blue water surrounded by such an empty desert landscape. The airplane window didn’t help the sharpness any, but it’s still a great peek at the world from above.

For more skies seen around the world, visit Skywatch Friday.

In Las Vegas it’s all about the night, even in the daytime. This chandelier, maybe ten feet (3 meters) or so wide, is dwarfed by the arch of lights near it. Taken in the Sahara hotel, on the north end of the Strip.

This is a SOOC (straight out of the camera) goody, too.

No trip to Las Vegas would be complete without a visit to the dancing watery fountains of the Bellagio hotel. This view of its resting state was so pretty that I thought I’d show it off for Watery Wednesday. A special note about the experience is that the strange but wonderful moisture in the air, after all that desert dryness elsewhere, is so appreciated.

For more interesting windows, visit Window and Door Views.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE: I’m repeating this info about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

A couple of weeks or so ago there was a big windstorm after a rainy spell, and the first leaves blew off the trees. Still fresh and perfect, the colors were more like delicious candy corn than the crunchy brown I remember from long-ago New York autumns.

See Mellow Yellow Monday and Macro Monday for more yellow and close-ups, and check out Color Carnival for more brilliant colors. Do you think they are worthy of Scenic Sunday as well? They are all SOOC, or straight out of the camera, and while we’re at it, visit Ruby Tuesday for more ruby redness.

Which one do YOU like best of the photos? Top, middle, or bottom?

Visit BPOTW for more blog posts chosen by their authors as the Best of the Week.

Today I am posting two flowers in honor of being Guest Friend on Flowers for Today, where you can see lovely flowers of all kinds posted on blogs around the world.

Here are some snapdragons from my garden, “snapped” mid-October in a sunbreak after a rain, with my house in the background. I grew these from seed so I’m extra happy with them. If we get a mild winter they might even live over to next year.

Below the snaps is a red, red rose, taken in a Wallingford garden on the same day as the snapdragons.

This is also a post for Color Carnival, site of brilliant colors in photos.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE: I’m repeating this info about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

I was in Las Vegas for a conference last week. What a place! The land of glitter and excess, a little strange out there in the desert, but some lovely photo opportunities nevertheless. Here is a chandelier, maybe eight or ten feet across (3 meters), reflected in the mirrors all around it. The best part is that it was just at the entrance to the monorail station. Vegas is amazing!

For more reflections, visit Weekend Reflections. And SOOC for more straight out of the camera images.