Layers of Fallen Autumn Leaves
Terri Webster Schrandt

Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge: All the Leaves are #Brown and Much More

I’m not certain why, but when I think of the month of November, the colors and shades of brown come to mind. Of course, we see the color brown all year long, but Autumn has its share of brown leaves, brown turkeys (both free-roaming and on the Thanksgiving table), and a general earthiness as we prepare to settle into Winter in the northern hemisphere.

“Brown is the color of Mother Earth.” ~Suzy Chiazzari

According to Hopeline, “brown is often associated with stability, reliability, and warmth. It is a color that exudes a sense of earthiness and down-to-earth comfort.”

With my red hair, shades of brown are the better colors for me to wear.

couple surrounded in brown

“Oh, come on! Nobody’s favorite color is brown!” ~ Lee Blessing 😉

Human-Made Browns

“Frequently the wood are pink / Frequently are brown / Frequently the hills undress / Behind my native town.” ~ Emily Dickinson

Morro Rock at Morrow Bay
Brown tones of dock and Morro Rock
Neighborhood home brown tones
Warm brown tones in neighborhood house
Rustic hook
Rustic hook

Nature’s Browns

“The color brown, I realized, is anything but nondescript. It comes in as many hues as there are colors of earth, which is commonly presumed infinite.”
~ Barbara Kingsolver

Frosty pine cone
Entrance to Bryce Canyon's Hoodoo Ville
Entrance to Bryce Canyon’s Hoodoo-Ville
foggy delta river
Delta Fog
Long Lake Dam at Spring Thaw
Long Lake Dam at Spring Thaw
Chocolate River
Chocolate River

I’m hoping to protect my two potted hydrangeas better this winter. They are mulched, covered, and protected from weather. I took a peek at the one on the left–so far so good. The second image shows last season’s dead hydrangea. ☹

brown hydrangea
Peeking at the dormant hydrangea
Hydrangea tough winter
Tough Winter for Miss Hydrangea

Brown Wildlife

Living in a rural area of Northeastern Washington, I see an abundance of wildlife every day, whether it is birds or beasts. Within the last two months, I’ve seen big animals such as moose and elk.

Moose on the trail
Bull Moose on the local trail
Brown Moose visit
Last year’s moose visit

Although I’ve heard the elk bugling their mating calls in the nearby hills, I had to physically see them in Payson, Arizona.

Bull Elk
Wild elk surrounded by neighborhood

What About the Brown Birds?

Luckily I see birds of all shapes and sizes all year round. The ground-feeding birds are already back for the winter

Female Purple Finch
Female Finch
Flock of Quail
Local Quail
Bald Eagle perching
Bald Eagle
Mourning Dove pair
Mourning Dove pair
Tagged Bald Eagle
Tagged Bald Eagle

Even this guy–a little brave to be walking around now, eh? 🦃

Wild turkey
You better run, turkey, it’s Thanksgiving soon!

Even My Dogs Are Brown

Of course, my post wouldn’t be complete without sharing these older pics of my two little brown dogs.

Brown puppy
Baby Brodie, January 2017
2 brown dogs enjoying morning sunshine
Baby Brodie and Aero in 2017

here the leaves are brown…

Mixed fall leaves
Leaves that fell after the rain
Yellow carpet maple leaves
Norway Maple Leaf Carpet
Layers of Fallen Autumn Leaves

“Autumn whispers leaf by leaf, ‘Give Love to others. Fall in Peace’.”
~ Angie Weiland-Crosby

Inspiring Photo Challenges This Week

Each week I find inspiration from my fellow bloggers’ photo challenges. I enjoy incorporating these into my Sunday Stills weekly themes.

How To Participate in Sunday Stills Photo Challenge

The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post.

  • Remember to title your blog post a little differently than mine.
  • Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
  • Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
  • Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
  • Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
  • I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.

This Week’s Featured Bloggers

Sunday Stills is a wonderful community of bloggers, poets, and photographers who desire to connect with one another. Below are this week’s links from bloggers who shared their photos of things that are BROWN. I add these all week as new links are posted.

Yellow western larch trees and US flag

Happy Veteran’s Day to those who served. Thank you for your service. ❤️

I can’t wait to see how you interpret the various shades of this brown week! Join me next week (the Sunday before Thanksgiving) as we explore gratitude.

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brown swatch
Autumn signature

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152 comments

  2. Greetings Terri, loved your ode to brown and to the new season. Of course especially happy you slipped in a few filled frames 😊. Here on Kiawah even in autumn and winter, we have little brown around us. Our trees stay green, the ocean retains its color, and although our temps cool (thankfully!) the nature around us remains fresh. Although I prefer it to nature’s changes when I lived in the northeast, I do miss the colors of autumn so your post warmed my heart this week. Loved your birds, especially of course the beautiful eagle. And wish your hydrangeas well – one of my very favorite flowers!

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    • Thank you, Tina! I’m glad to have shared some autumn colors with you today, although brown is the featured color for most of the leaves this time of year here in Washington. In Sacramento, fall is at its peak this time of year. I hope my hydrangeas get through the winter this year. Worst case scenario, I go back to Costco next spring and buy two more 😉

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  3. A wonderful selection, Terri. I didn’t think I was going to find much for this challenge but it’s surprising how often brown crops up. Love your dogs, the animals and scenery 🤎

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  4. I love the colour brown for many reasons but especially as it’s the colour of chocolate!! Thanks for the Barbara Kingsolver quote. She always says it best. I love Washington State. We spent a lot of time travelling around it on our motorcycle when we lived in Vancouver, BC. Gorgeous scenery and wildlife.

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    • Hi Darlene, thank you! Now that you mention it, I’m not sure why I don’t have more pics of chocolate, LOL! We’ve lived in Eastern WA (a little north of Spokane) for almost three years now, but I haven’t yet made it over to the Seattle side yet. On my list of places to visit!

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      • We almost visited Banff and Calgary this fall, Darlene, but another life event waylaid our plans. I enjoy living closer to the Canadian border. We live an hour’s drive away from Coeur D’Alene–the lake has some areas to see the bald eagles fishing this time of year.

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  5. I hate to be disagreeable… there are many things to like about brown… Brown bread, brown bag lunch, brown eyes, How now, brown cow? And, if you don’t like the word brown, substitute “chocolate.” >grin<

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  14. You’re right Terri, I am busy this weekend! I’ve gotten varied responses to Filling the Frame. Yours is wonderful. I like that you coupled it with other challenges. I do enjoy photographing the various shades of brown wood. It’s rich and deep in color. And it shows life in trees. Take care!

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  19. I’ve always kinda liked brown. Which worked out good in the 70s as that was one of the main colors of my home growing up. Brown paneling, dark brown kitchen (orange porcelain sink), brown siding. Lots of brown and orange clothes too. And I like how my shelties look in the brown leaves. Plus they have been brown. Hmmm…and chocolate ice cream….that’s a good brown too.

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  20. Terri,
    Before my hair turned gray, I spent life as a redhead, but brown is not my color. You wear it well, however–as does Hans. I love your landscapes, particularly Morro Rock, and your potted hydrangeas (I’m certain they’ll make it). My contribution is a loveable, fuzzy brown creature we met on the east side of Glacier NP. Fortunately, we were in our car at the time. Happy Thanksgiving to you both. Joe

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    • Some redheads don’t do brown, Joe! My safe colors as a teen were blue and brown, heaven-forbid I wear red or pink. When I discovered olive green in fashion in my late teens, that was and is one of my best colors to wear. I dug out some old photos for this challenge and I came across the one of Morro Rock from 2017. Thanks for sharing your grizzly bear, Joe ! Glad you were in the car–I’ve encountered enough black bears in the wild to know how big they are and their potential danger. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

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  25. Hi Terri, so many great quotes related to the colour brown – who knew?? I love all your autumnal tones and the animals and birds, you’ve created a great selection of browns. I can see your reasoning for wearing brown hues (after reading your comment on my post).
    I had to reprise my post from last year as I covered a great many browns and loved the challenge. Thank you!
    https://debs-world.com/2023/11/12/brown-eyes-brown-hair-brown-skin-and-then-i-wore-brown-clothes/

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  31. Well I love, love, love the color of brown, every shade of it and I also said that in my post. 🙂 And I laughed when I saw your quote “Oh, come on! Nobody’s favorite color is brown!” ~ Lee Blessing
    For years my mom would say something similar or “why can’t you like pink or blue like a girl?” Hmm.

    You had many images here Terri, all brown and besides the old photo of your dogs, I really liked the color of the spent hydrangeas. I pulled some out that looked like that while doing yard work this afternoon.

    I posted earlier than usual so I can include the link here, although I know you see it when you have to approve it from my post. My brown shots are not really pretty since everything at the marsh had died.

    Swan song at the Marsh.

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  41. Lovely photos with brown, Terri. I had red hair until my 50s and then it started to fade. Now it is pure white.

    My wardrobe was and still is filled with brown, olive green, navy blue, and black. Brown is a warm and versatile color, IMO,

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  43. Terri, brown is my least favorite color but you have made it look inviting. I can tolerate it and even appreciate it in nature, but it is an absolute NO-GO to wear. Love the beige sweater on you. No way I can even stand next to Malcolm if he wears brown.

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  49. All the feels of comfort in this post Terri. Never think of brown like that, but this time of year is certainly speaks to that doesn’t it. Even snuggly sweaters, sweet puppies, the smell of autumn, and the tranquility of seeing a moose. So nice… thank you for this lovely post.

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  54. I never realized I loved brown so much. You picked some great examples. I love the picture of you and Hans. The hydrangea are totally gorgeous! You’ve inspired me, of course! I shouldn’t have to hunt too far to find some browns. 🙂

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  55. Where to start, Terri? First, I love your photos, specially the Rusty hook, there’s a story to tell with that one. The puppies are too cute 🙂 Being a 70’s child, I know brown well, dressed as I was in brown so many times…! So, not really my colour although it can be a luxurious one. I’m surprised about your hydrangeas, no one seems to take particular care of them around this parts. I’ve got my first one this year, I hope it survives winter.

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    • Thank you, Sofia! The Rusty hook resides in Fort Vancouver in the fur trapper area of the museum. I’m sure it’s seen a lot of brown 😁 For those of us who endured the fashion faux pas of the 1970s, brown managed to endure. We’ll have to compare notes about our hydrangeas.

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  57. It’s ME, I’m late to the party! I couldn’t like your post for some odd reason. I thought about your prompt as I spent much of my weekend driving back and forth to see my daughters. I couldn’t grab my camera to capture the browns I see everywhere now. It’s drab at the same time intriguing to see all shades of browns in the tree branches and the cut fields. I guess they’re all ready to gather and embrace the snow to arrive soon. I enjoyed your take on the prompt. You’ve seen quite the large brown critters and of course, I adore the photos of your dogs too. Way to be at the right spot to capture the eagle’s tag. I was going to share a turkey photo that looks a lot like yours, but I rolled with wood instead. The photo of you and your hubby is so sweet 🥰😍😊 I hope you’re having a great week!

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    • You are never late to the party, Shelley, although I searched your site to see if a post popped up on Sunday. I still don’t see the links or get the email, but you’re been a loyal participant and I have your URL saved!
      Thanks for all the kind compliments on my brown choices, LOL! I dipped into the camera upload files from 2017 to find many of these. That eagle sat for a long time (Gilbert, AZ riparian preserve) and my zoom lens did the trick. Off to read yours!

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      • Thank you, Terri, I appreciate your persistence in finding my posts. I was traveling on Sunday so had to wait until Monday to post. While I was driving I was looking around at all the brown things that I could’ve taken pictures of if I hadn’t been driving. 🤣
        You’re welcome! I bet it’s fun to have organized photo files to pull from. 🤔😉 I should do that some day! Your zoom lens tricks are some of my favorites in your photography!

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  59. I agree with what you say about linking the month of November with the colour brown, Terri. It just feels like a ‘brown’ month, given all the brown leaves on the ground.

    The photo of Hans and you is great. Hans’s brown sweater matches your boots.

    And thank you for featuring Brodie and Aero. I had to go dog theme with this challenge too.

    Have a great week.

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  65. What a lot of comments, Terri! I think everyone loves brown (and your blog!). I like the color. It’s the color of nature, along with green, and is soothing to me. My favorite pic was the first of you and your hubs. That one started the post off with a smile. Enjoy the browns of November. ❤

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  66. A beautiful selection of brown, Terri. My favourites are the photo of you and Hans and the photo of baby Brodie. I’ll post my entry on Friday morning and ping back to your post. Have a great week!

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  70. […] Thanks for visiting our travel blog and I hope you enjoyed finding the #SundayStills Challenge. You can join the weekly challenge by visiting our hosts blog Second Wind Leisure. and checking out Terri’s post for this week, All the Leaves are Brown and Much More. […]

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