Musings

Confession: this photo is from last week in the UP, a daisy-ish fleur in a mowed path, nestled in with a dusting of fallen leaves.

I thought it was dry up there, yet it’s dry dry dry here, too—no rain yet in this month in ATL, which is…WOW!…as it’s already the 23rd. OTOH, it’s great to see a flower even if the weather is especially arid and un-supporting of plants.

Posted at 9:37 PM | Comments Off on Weather watch (again)

Before holly berries get ripe, they are green. [Duh.] In the maturation process they turn from greenish to orange-tinted (as here), before finishing brilliant red.

Posted at 9:24 PM | Comments Off on Ilex immaturity

Today’s weather qualified as partly sunny, as in almost no sun at all; however, I did catch the woods lit beautifully this afternoon. The color is coming.

Meanwhile, the lower leaves on the UncleDaveMaple are seemingly in neon hues.

Posted at 8:52 PM | Comments Off on Leaf report

Today in my wander, I found curious shapes…this gnarly branch…

…and an exploded milkweed pod. I learned today that the technical name for the fluff is coma (popularly also floss or filaments).

Posted at 7:15 PM | Comments Off on Curiosities

My pre-coffee outing was to gauge the first frost. There was just a teeny bit on the ground, but the roofs sported a goodly amount—I’d call it a light frost. See that lower right unfrosted area? That’s above where our pillows are…it shows a serious lack of insulation!

Today’s headliner was a hike to the shore of Lake Superior…partly along the North Country Trail.

The lake was placid, much calmer than the other day.

See? That rock is the east edge of the Pictured Rocks.

On a more macro level, look at these grey fungi!

And these orange hued ones.

My-o-my did we return to the cottage (an hour-plus drive) all creaky. And hungry…ah, leftovers!

Posted at 8:06 PM | Comments Off on Lake-ward hike

I was too lazy to head to the beach to watch the sunrise, but did get out to see the sun crest the treeline. Nice.

Now this is unexpected: a few lilac blooms in OcTOWber! They do smell like spring.

Posted at 9:34 PM | Comments Off on Expected, unexpected

I titled this showoff grass, and that’s about the extent of my “creativity” at the moment. G’night.

Posted at 10:25 PM | Comments Off on Yawn

I can get mesmerized by patterns.

Posted at 10:25 PM | Comments Off on Leaf me be…

Here’s proof of autumn. There are colorful Asclepias species, like this one I’m guessing, that are not uncommon in gardens. I’m more attuned to A. syriaca (most likely), which however important to monarch butterfly caterpillars, is less commonly cultivated.

Note that winds from Francine will be arriving over the next 48 hrs, and I’m sure these floss/filaments soon will be lofting seeds widely in the neighborhood.

Posted at 9:36 PM | Comments Off on Change a’coming

Striding along under this lovely, towering magnolia, a high branch dropped a leaf that landed on my hat. It was not a small leaf, and it landed with a small thud. My neck is fine; I just shook that floral debris off and continued my walk.

Posted at 7:10 PM | Comments Off on Floral irritant