“You can come back next week and help us rake that up,” he said. He’s a member and ubiquitous volunteer at the church I attend, and he was talking about the Ginkgo tree I was photographing with my cell phone. We both laughed.
One of this autumn’s final blazes of glory
Fall is probably the season when I first fell in love with trees, not because of the raking that always has to happen, but because of the sheer beauty and variety of fall trees. Continue reading
It’s raining here today, the dark type of day that feels all too rare here because of our desperate need for rain. Whereas last year’s rainy season got off to a great start, this one has been slow so far. So I’m especially grateful for the rain and gray skies today.
Autumn means rain, and rain means clouds have come back, bringing more interesting sunrises and sunsets.
The sun sets along the river (with birds on a wire)
Fall trickled in here over the last few weeks, but this is the first week many of the trees decided to put on a show. Continue reading
I’ve come to love the salmon run each fall here in California. It’s one of my favorite parts of the season. This October, when my husband and I visited Tahoe, we stopped along Taylor Creek because we had heard salmon were spawning there.
Red kokanee salmon in Taylor Creek
I was stunned to see such tiny fish compared to the huge chinook salmon that swim upriver from the ocean each fall to spawn. These little, red fish are kokanee salmon, landlocked in Lake Tahoe and surrounding tributaries such as Taylor Creek, where they go to spawn each autumn. Continue reading
I couldn’t let autumn slip by without talking about trees, especially beautiful fall trees such as the aspens.
I didn’t grow up in the land of aspens, and so they’re not part of my mental image of fall. They are spectacular, though, and it’s hard to pass by them in the fall without pausing to admire them and listen to their leaves “quaking.”
Aspens in Nevada
While driving from the start to the finish of one of my husband’s recent races near Tahoe, I couldn’t resist a quick stop along this roadside. I lost more than an hour because of the stop (thanks, Nevada DOT, for mismanaging your construction zones so entirely that day, and by thanks, I mean the exact opposite of thanks). But as I look back at these pictures and remember the beauty of that morning, it’s hard for me to say I wouldn’t have stopped if I’d known the trouble that waited ahead in the construction zone. At least for all the aggravation, I had these moments of sheer beauty.
A showy autumn display
Other days brought an escape from the car, along with opportunities to see these beautiful trees up close.
The bark offers a spell-binding play of dark and light.
Leaves of gold
I’ve been reading about the growth patterns and habits of quaking aspens. They grow in groups called clones, where each “tree” isn’t so much an individual as it is part of an outgrowth of a single living root system.
They continue to grow through winter, too, an unusual characteristic for deciduous trees. You can read more about the layer right under their bark that allows this to happen.
Aspens even have the power to turn the water into gold. Well, not really. But the combination of aspens and sunlight adds an air of magic to whatever water happens to be nearby.
A heron wades among the golden reflection. (I’m not sure all of the gold reflection is from aspens.)
A blaze of aspen gold washes over salmon in Taylor Creek.
I hope these last two photos whet your appetite for what’s coming next week. The salmon are running, and we got to see a different sort of salmon spawning in Taylor Creek near Lake Tahoe. Next week, I’ll share some favorite shots of the salmon and the birds that hang out with them (sometimes to the detriment of the fish).
How is autumn shaping up where you live? We’re raking lots of leaves and enjoying at least a little fall color.
Where did October go? I blinked, and it’s already almost gone.
Fall is putting on a beautiful display here, and the rains have returned. The salmon are back, and the vultures along with them. Where there were one or two vultures flying around at the river a couple of weeks ago, now a dozen or so try to fit into the same tree at one time. Not beautiful. But important.
The trees have turned showy with the shorter days and cooling temperatures.
Pumpkins dot front porches, and children run past in partial costumes, preparing for Monday’s trick-or-treating.
Summer hasn’t quite loosened its grip, though. Recent rains and my deadheading efforts a month ago have resulted in one final crop of rose blooms. I wish you could smell the perfect fragrance of this rose:
The last few buds promise to welcome November, but they’ll be gone long before December arrives.
Whether summer pinks or autumn oranges, October has its share of beauties.
I hope you’re able to get outside and enjoy what’s left of the month. We have more rain in the forecast here, a blessing for sure, but also one that keeps my camera and me indoors more than I’d like. (I’m fortunate, at least, to have a dog who doesn’t mind trooping around in the rain. She’s a lot tougher than the camera.)
It’s good to know that November will bring its own kind of beauty when it arrives. I look forward to sharing some of it here with you in the coming weeks.
The Flourishing Tree 