Awash in Color

Currently, we are awash in color....all of the vivid fall spectrum, to be more specific. Daily walks yield reds, oranges, purples, yellows and browns, from the top of the trees down to the forest floor. It's a wonderful time to be in the woods.

I've been able to get out in the mornings lately, to walk down our road. Earlier this month, I felt like fall was stalled. We were in a pattern of cold, rainy weather, and the leaves seemed determined not to change from their late-summer shade of green. Once the sun returned last Saturday, the painting of the forest began in earnest. Each day became a little brighter, from the color that was replacing those greens. The two birch trees at the northern corners of the lodge began to reflect a bright gold into the store. The moose maples exploded in reds and oranges. Even at dusk, when it would normally be feeling darker, the reflected light had a brighter spring in its step. The wonders of autumn.

We enjoyed a stretch of sunny, warm days, filled with the smells of the season. Temps made their way into the seventies, and we were fooled a bit. Then the wind switched, and came down from the north. Even when I am told that it is coming, it still takes me a little by surprise. Yesterday, it blew hard for several hours. Leaves flew down, like the rains that were also falling. Pine needles covered the road and the roof of our side porch. I was afraid that the fall showing would be completely decimated in one afternoon. Fortunately, the wind subsided by late in the day, and this morning, there was still plenty of action on the trees. Leaves are still in various stages of green to yellow, as I look down the hill to a poplar tree. The cedars hang heavy with seed pods gone brown. The underbrush was not buffeted by that wind, so most of the leaves are still in their places.

So the technicolor show will last a little longer, and my morning walks will continue to be bright and cheery. Not a bad way to end the wonderful summer and move into the inevitable time for hibernation, though not all of us will be hibernating. There's still work to be done! Firewood season is upon me.