Musings

Crisp fall day

That’s how the phrase goes, no? And it was…crisp and lovely. Note that there’s still plenty of green in the tree leaves.

No beach day

Definitely not a beach day. Temps began about 34°F, and got up to all of perhaps 51°F when the sun was out mid- to late-afternoon…complete with clouds and breezes. Still, we celebrated mint-choc chip ice cream and low-carb choc-chip cookies (with no wheat flour), the latter courtesy of our fine baker-neighbor.

Different species, different patterns

Despite recent windy phases, the maples are doing a great job of hanging onto their leaves.

The birches, on the other hand, are dropping theirs and making a carpet atop the grass.

Somehow I manage to forget that many pine needles also come down at this time. Don’t fret; the tree’ll look solid green come spring.

Chin up

Foreground: I can almost make windrows with The Beast. Especially good to have the glaringly yellowy milkweeds down, although the grass looks surprisingly dull brown. Therefore, enjoy that spectacular sky.

Sun sparkles

The dawn came with cloudiness that persisted. By afternoon, the clouds became thin and dispersed. And the lake was still. Those are mini-wake waves, not wind riffles.

Winter eats

Apple in sun

We are enjoying a string of gorgeous autumnal days, and the deer periodically parade through the orchard, and some even bed down in it overnight. They are staking a claim, I suspect, to fallen apples after the snow descends.

I see the light

Impending sun: Manistique Lake.

Full afternoon light, cloudless sky: Manistique River.

Eeny, meeny

Do I pick flowers, close-up? With the lovely name pearly everlasting?

Or do I pick the maple branch that has changed while its brethern are still green?

Wimpy me. I can’t choose. You get both.

Maple sample

I’ve been watching the creeping color change in the trees, especially the maples. This is my sample maple. Actually, it’s the closest to the cottage, and the easiest to monitor. [I record that bit of spatial bias for scientific honesty.]

Small victory

Against my expections, we didn’t have rain most of the day, although the sky was overcast, and the lake stirred up by the wind, enough to make the water turbid. Still, not terribly cold.