The ride up here from Paynesville was funny this morning. All I did was gasp and say, "Look at that!" about a million times. I don't think Bob was annoyed....I don't think....
I have never in my lifetime seen this kind of autumn foliage color. The maples have been at it for quite a few days. Every shade of red imaginable, and a few you haven't thought of.
Now the aspens are starting to turn too, and they are every shade of yellow from a neon lime yellow, to old gold.
On Sunday, we got in the car, camera ALWAYS in hand, and explored the roads in the Paynesville area. I don't know if I can explain the topography in this area and do it justice. There are mountains, but they are OLD.
Most are covered with forest, but every forest area has its own look. In the Paynesville area, there are lots of hardwoods, mostly maples, interspersed with pine and spruce. There are a lot of aspens, birch, some oak and hemlock. Probably others I haven't identified. Some forests are older than others, depending on when they were cut some years ago. Some have a wild weedy look, others look planted and maintained. Some let in a lot of light, others have a dark look, like where Hansel and Gretel or Red Riding Hood could get lost. There are a lot of fields, of hay, old homesteads, which feature quite a few old barns and some houses returning to the earth slowly, in a picturesque way.
Something that surprised us as we were driving was to see sand on the tops of the mountains. Bob heard on the radio that it's because when Lake Superior was new, the waters of the lake covered the tops of these old mountains, sometimes to a depth of 600 feet. Talk about climate change! The ice age people who mined copper in the area did so along what was then the shoreline...miles and miles inland of where the lake is now. It's hard to imagine.
Anyway, as we were going through the Ontonagon River valley today, we were talking that we are looking forward (because we are naive non-Yoopers, I know) to seeing the snow in this area. It is going to be gorgeous, covering the pines. Although we hear that Ontonagon county does a fantastic job of keeping the roads cleared in the winter, and Bob will ALWAYS tell me the road conditions are "not too bad" regardless, there will be times when I will need to help pry his fingers from the steering wheel when we get to our destinations of Ontonagon or Paynesville. I will just have to learn to keep my mouth shut and not yell, "Look at that!" too many times as I enjoy the beauties of God's creation in this continuing journey.
I hope everyone else is getting to spend a little time enjoying nature as the seasons change. Don't forget to notice how beautiful it is!
Sort of related pictures:
These two skunks were out looking for SOMETHING on Sunday, before winter gets here!
This Eastern Phoebe was cold in the frosty weather and should have flown south a while ago, I think!
White-crowned and Savannah Sparrows continue to hit the feeders to stock up for their long flights coming up very soon!
These kinds of birds clean up the feeders every night. Wouldn't want the seed to get stale!
Happy autumn, everyone!
