The changes in the seasons are minimal in San Francisco. Like in Spring, the weather slips back and forth from the heat of summer to chilly weather with just a taste of autumn in the wind. This year, before the trees turned brilliant fall colors, a strong wind and rainstorm blew most of the leaves down. The brownish leaves skittered across the streets and sidewalks and piled up against the buildings.

We've noticed in our neighborhood that the sun becomes the main indicator of change. The sun has shifted to be more northeast than straight east in the morning. We are getting reflected light from skyscrapers through our windows in the morning that the sun hasn't touched before and we see the long, dark shadows created by the slant of the sun in the afternoon.

One of my aunts kept track of the weather each day. She and my uncle were farmers so that was important information for them. I keep track of other things: what I eat, my weight, books I've read, and movies we've watched. Like my aunt, doing something on a daily basis works for me.  Time and the changes that come with it are threads that run through my art and writing.

This week I decided to take objects from my collection of art supplies and pieces of nature I've picked up and do a drawing or painting each day for 30 days. I want to concentrate on the shadows because the shadows are often the most interesting mix of colors. I am keeping each design simple so that I can complete the painting or drawing in one sitting. Creating a good painting, for me, depends on a good drawing underneath.

Crows live in San Francisco and they also seem to have daily practices. Usually, we see solitary ones perched on light poles or on the railings on the Embarcadero. In the last weeks of October as the sun began to set, masses of crows started circling in a wide aerial path through the city. They landed for a few minutes on the billboard north of us or stood on the edges of roofs. They are more than a murder of crows, more like a dark storm, as they sweep through the spaces between skyscrapers. They are not as disciplined as a murmuration of starlings because they don't follow a leader or a pattern of flight. Our first sighting made both of us anxious as they plunged and cawed near our windows. Was this an invasion?

At 5:30 P.M. they all land for a few moments and then just as mysteriously as they arrived, they are gone. We wonder where they go at night and why they have suddenly started circling the city. As night falls earlier and earlier, we can still see them start to gather and hear their caws, but by 5:30 it is dark and we can't see the crows circle through the city anymore. Time and change are always constant.

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If you care about gun safety and violence, you could work on a project to complete 30 origami boxes in 30 days. You will be participating in the Soul Box Project.

See one column of many of the boxes here:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C6IO996Lllb/?hl=en 

or on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/soulboxproject/