A Touch Of Gold

The evening rain comes as cold mist that settles on darkening hills. Sometimes I think that if were blind that I could tell what season it is by the smell of the rain. A Spring rain smells fresh and sweet. A Summer rain smells sweet too but different. A Fall rain smells earthy with a hint of spice. The changing leaves are what gives the Fall rain that particular scent. The more they turn, the stronger the rain smells. The photo was taken several days ago when the colors just beginning to peak and now they’re well underway. Nature’s gift of gold and amber are the most prominent tones near my home. My own little golden treasure that get to enjoy for a few short weeks.

Believe it or not the was a time when a single leaf gave simple handwritten notes the same spending value as printed money. These came in the form of promisary notes. For example, a person with timber on their land might agree to supply a “x” number of firewood in exchange for a farmer’s grain. But in seasons where a large amount of either product may not be practical to transport or store notes would be made up in denominations with the exchange rate agreed upon. To prevent counterfeit notes a leaf would be used as a watermark. Each person would then take half of note with half of the leafprint. When it came time to collect what was promised the halves would be matched up and if the patterns lined up then each knew that it the original agreement. But the real utility of the system is that if the notes were given serial numbers and made in exchangeable amounts. Say, a bag of flour in exchange for a day’s worth of firewood then the timber man could deliver several days of firewood, receive a single bag of flour and a few notes. Then instead of hauling loads of firewood all over town he could barter the extra notes to other tradesmen for whatever product they had and the notes were then cashed in with the farmer. Of course a good negotiator would take payment in part product and part notes. So our timberman would have notes for more than grain. He’d be carrying notes from the farmer, the Butcher and perhaps a blacksmith along with a manageable load of firewood or other products that he’d traded for.

That’s a highly simplified example and I may have confused a few details about how it actually worked but the individual vein patterns on the leaves were what gave confidence in the system.

Today the value of the leaves are mostly aesthetic and the changing colors are my favorite part of Fall.

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Announcement 2.0

For those who have been following me on Facebook and know of the struggle content providers have to get circulation from big tech I’ve been recommending for people to adopt MeWe as a social media platform. One of the problems I’ve run into on MeWe is that people don’t know how to navigate the platform. So to help with that I’ve created a permanent page on my website as a basic Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe I’ve tried to anticipate all basic questions there and You can bookmark the page to have as a reference and if you have any questions or suggestions don’t hesitate to contact me. I do still have a day job and I help admin several pages on both platforms so replies might be a little slow but I will answer you.

We also have the Lloyd’s Lens Photography Discussion Group on MeWe that is set up as a fully functional community. There you’ll not only be able to see and connect with me but you can also make your own posts and interact with each other.

I want you to join my group on MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/lloydslensphotographydiscussiongroup

Click the link below to jump to the Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe.https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/guide-to-mewe/embed/#?secret=GJGnIQEVHc

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

WELCOME TO LLOYD’S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY

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Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simply use the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.