photo journal --- October 2025
A photo journal — one or two pictures each day, from today or years past, to look back on, reflect, and remember with a smile in the years ahead.
Date started: Aug 17th 2025
Monthly Recap
Most of my photo memories this month were about chasing the changing colors of fall -- and a little birding, too. Most were taken during my meditative morning walks, just around nearby parks and sometimes right in the neighborhood. The fall colors this year were more subdued compared to previous years, but still rewarding to witness as they reached their peak and slowly drifted to the ground. Perhaps next year, I’ll wander farther -- to some of the most beautiful corners of the Northeast, one of the best regions to experience the magic of fall.
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| Day 31 - an ode of a tree one day I'll fall dead into the river. but until then, I'll keep on living -- grateful to those who still find beauty in the colors left in me. |
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| Day 30 The beauty of fall colors isn’t just in their peak brilliance, but also in the quiet grace of the fallen leaves. |
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| Day 29 A morning walk with a different purpose -- birding -- in search of the small and the mighty. I often just listen and chase the flitting songs of morning birds, but today, I stood eye to eye with a true icon of the skies. |
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| Day 28 Morning reflection -- nature’s quiet meditation. Pun intended. |
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| Day 27 Another morning walk, another rising sun. Eyes closed, I stood still, feeling the warmth on my face, the hush of the cool air, and the colors of phosphenes -- my own quiet world. |
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| Day 26 A morning walk is, primarily, an exercise for the mind. The physical benefits come second. Today’s exercise? Face the morning sun, close your eyes, and see the most beautiful colors -- the kind you can only see with your eyes closed. The technical term is phosphenes. I call it bliss. |
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| Day 25 Another morning walk with an aching back. The 'discomfort' is sharper and more noticeable than before, but I went anyway -- not for the colors this time but to to feel the warmth and light of the morning sun. I need its rejuvenating power. After all, I am Superman. |
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| Day 25 - 2020 Injecting a photo from the past, because birding has brought me joy even I was feeling down. I also need them now. |
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| Day 24 - 2024 Another day with no new photos -- my back reminds me to slow down -- so I revisited this memory from Plainsboro Preserve. Even when the leaves had fallen, the beauty lingered. |
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| Day 23 A morning walk with a stiff back, eased by the sight of Autumn's full spectrum -- nature's own pain relief. |
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| Day 22 New project -- modified the existing set up to have roomier sleeping space -- better for an old man's back. |
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| Day 21 - 2022 No new photos today, just a walk down memory lane -- to Dead Horse State Park, a place as grand and humbling as any national park. Oh, how I miss my little buddy. |
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| Day 20 Sushi served with a side of AI -- no tips needed, just firmware updates. |
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| Day 19 Still water, still heart -- a great blue heron reflected in perfect calm. Taken during a morning walk along the D&R Towpath with my PG9 in hand, rekindling the old thrill of birdwatching and the quiet chase for a moment like this. |
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| Day 18 A fiery hedge of the burning bush -- a deciduous plant that paints the town in the shades of crimson each fall. |
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| Day 17 Taking a quiet morning walk and taking a last look at what might be the last of the fall colors. |
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| Day 17 - 2024 And as luck would have it, I was in the same spot last year! |
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| Day 16 And an early Winter present — mistletoe in October. |
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| Day 15 Witnessing the beautiful transition: all the fall colors captured in a single, perfect leaf. |
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| Day 14 While fall colors have faded in the higher elevations, here in the neighborhood they still glow — vibrant and beautiful in their own way. |
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| Day 13 Over lunch at a service area, I scrolled through my journal’s On This Day entries. Somewhere in those pages, a thought nudged me to write this: Finding Beauty In A Diary |
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| Day 12 A quiet seat with a view — the Hudson stretching out below, the Catskills in the distance, and the colors of fall arriving more softly this year. And this bench? Special in its own way, seemingly built without nails or modern fasteners. |
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| Day 11 Today’s hike took my friend and I to North Point, a spot known for its sweeping fall foliage views. But this year, the colors are subdued — more brown than bright. Maybe it’s the late-summer drought, as Gemini suggested, that hurried the leaves off the trees before they had a chance to shine. |
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| Day 10 Last night’s cold was harsh — a new experience. This morning, a quiet walk along the park’s empty beach, the stillness of the lake, and a view that felt like it belonged only to me. |
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| Day 9 I went camping today. The past few days were pleasant, but Mother Nature had other plans — tonight comes with a frost advisory and sub-freezing temps. No worries, I got my 'fireplace' ready to keep me warm... and my beer. |
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| Day 8 - 2022 No new photos today, so back to memory lane. Late afternoon at Cape Royal on the Grand Canyon’s North Rim, a sudden storm swept in and drenched me — only to leave behind this full rainbow, and later, a sunset just as magnificent. |
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| Day 7 The plan was to capture the Magic Hour and Sunrise at Liberty State Park. The universe, however, served up the Early-Morning Traffic Jam instead. No worries — after that epic crawl, the rest of the morning spent peacefully walking at the boardwalk felt like an even better reward. |
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| Day 6 I went for a short walk to visit a favorite place, see this tree growing out of a stone, finding a way to survive, and say hi to this old man's face carved by my imagination. |
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| Day 5 A reunion that began with laughter in a restaurant and lingered into the night, under the moonlight at Liberty State Park. |
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| Day 4 Another quiet day with Baby. Lately she hasn’t been herself, eating just a little before retreating to the window sills. She follows the sunlight from one to another, resting in its warmth while I keep an eye on her |
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| Day 4 - 2022 Day 4 in 2022. And this is how it felt like hiking down in the canyon. |
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| Day 3 - 2022 Day 3 in 2022. A view from the South Rim, looking down at the Bright Angel Trail as it winds to the canyon floor. The canyon’s vastness against the trail’s smallness made me pause, thinking of what it takes to hike all the way down… and back up again. |
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| Day 2 - 2022 Day 2 in 2022. I remember how this adventure felt guided at every turn. On this day, I stopped in Sedona at the Chapel of the Holy Cross — a moment to pause, take in its beauty, and ask for guidance before continuing on. |
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| Day 1 - 2022 Starting this month with a memory to keep me motivated. Back in 2022, I wandered nearly 3,000 miles across parks, monuments, and quiet corners of the road. A month of pure wandering — camping, hiking, exploring — and what I remember most: not one night in a hotel, not one bottle of water bought. Just me, the road, this car that became my bed and kitchen, and this little buddy. I called it 30 Days in October. |
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