I took my walk this morning. It was the usual long route, along roads where weeds flourish in the ditches and past rolling farms whose fields change with the seasons, but today I felt sad when I allowed my self to accept the fact that summer is almost over and fall is well and truly on the way.
I never walk without taking my phone along, so I decided to record some of the late summer beauty. It almost makes me cry to know that the beginning of our beautiful autumn also means winter must follow.
Virginia Creeper is showing tinges of red.
Goldenrod, as high as an elephant’s eye, brings tears to mine. Thank goodness for Claratin!
Wild grapes are purple …
and sumach seeds are scarlet — much brighter than they look here.
The dogwood is starting to show its red branches (a good thing when I
start my winter decorating)
the milkweed pods have formed,
and Queen Anne’s Lace is going to seed.
It’s still quite green around the house, but when I mowed the lawn yesterday some brown leaves had fallen from somewhere, so I mulched them. That’s an early autumn look I love though — a newly mowed lawn with a few red or golden leaves blown down.
If you look more closely you’ll see that
my beautiful blue hostas are starting to fade,
but the holly is getting nicer and nicer. Before you know it, it will be time to cut a bough, tie it with red ribbon, and deck the halls.
But in the meantime, does anyone want this monster Boston Fern? I don’t have room to keep it over the winter but if you do, it’s yours.
Beautiful pictures but with an element of sadness that summer is soon over and we will move into the fall and winter before too long
Thanks for sharing though.
Those plants sure take me back to my younger days spent playing in Ontario rural fields and forests.
I’ve done lots of hiking on the east coast and in the Rockies. Every place has its flora which Ives it a characteristic feeling. And I don’t just mean the trees. The milkweeds, Queen Anne’s lace, and sumacs especially take me back. Did you see any Monarch butterfly chrysalis remnants?
No monarch “change rooms”, but that would have been fun. I’m glad I could bring back a few moments of your Ontario days. I absolutely love fall, but … not winter so much.
Thanks, Caro. I always feel a bit sad at this time of year, but enjoy the fall so much.
Guess I’m an odd duck. I too enjoy fall but part of the joy is that winter will closely follow! The crisp air on a fall morning brings happy anticipation of icy cold mornings in winter when all is snow-covered, white and pristine! Oh beautiful days!
And that’s what makes the world go ’round, Ruth. I’m glad you enjoy winter. I can see its beauty, but sure don’t enjoy the shoveling, bundling up, boots, slush, driving conditions ….
I was hiking on the Bruce Trail yesterday and I thought about your writing. What I added to your words were the sounds of the crickets, the Blue Jays calling to each other and the leaves crunching under my boots. The day felt like sensory overload.
Yes, sensory overload is a good way to describe it. “Sight and sound” — it’s all there. So, so beautiful.