Leaves are a changin'

 

It's that time of year when the trees around are preparing for the dormancy of winter and shedding their leaves. But not without first putting on a spectacular show of color. I enjoy this change every year but am in special awe of it this year. I look around and can't believe how lucky I am to be able to experience the glorious show nature is putting on. Just like magic, there is an ever-changing beautiful scene to see. Every corny thing you can think of to describe the colors of the changing leaves I am thinking.

Fall has always been a special time. When we were kids, my sisters and I would walk around the neighborhood and collect colorful leaves. Then we'd take them home and dip them in hot wax to preserve them. That way, we could enjoy the color for months after the leaves outside were gone. 

After I left college, I lived along the Gulf Coast, where there were not four distinct seasons, and I missed the fall colors. I had one friend whose mother would mail her a box of fall leaves every year as a reminder of home in the northeast. When I moved back north, and my friend was still in the south, I also mailed her leaves because her mother had since passed away. 

Our tree, which turned a brilliant red in the fall, was lost in a storm last year. However, as I look out my windows, the neighbors' trees are more than making up for it. I am so lucky.

Fall Has Come

 Fall officially arrived Thursday, and the weather coordinated with the calendar for once. A cold front came through on Thursday and brought blustery, rainy weather followed by a big temperature drop. Today is going to be sunny with a high of 70 F. Perfect. 

Fall is starting to show itself in other ways, too.

Sunrises seem to be more vivid this time of year, or at least they happen when I'm more likely to see them. This was at 6:30 this morning. (As always, the picture did not copy the splendor I saw.)

 I looked out yesterday and saw my neighbor's maple tree starting to change colors. This tree is always the first in the neighborhood to change. Also, notice the green grass. When the temperatures cool off, the grass is really happy and grows. And grows. We are back to cutting the grass 2x/week, like in the spring.

We got our first apples from a local orchard, and they taste heavenly. Unfortunately, our own apple tree is not doing so well. We had high hopes this year because the tree had more than a couple of apples on it. We have been waiting for them to ripen. However, when I checked yesterday, most of them had rotted on the tree while still green. So today, we plan to salvage what we can, ripe or not. 

The beautyberries are turning purple, waiting for the birds who love them.

The turnip and radishes are growing well. We should have some eating size in a few weeks. If you look closely at the picture, you can also see a cherry tomato that has revived with a bit of rain and cooler temps. It is doing what cherry tomatoes do best - try to take over everywhere.

The anemones are in full bloom. This year these bloomed about a month ahead of last year when they didn't start blooming until October.

And now we're off to another fun fall thing- an arts and crafts festival. If I remember to take pictures, I'll show you some of those next time.

Until next time...