I Love Fall

I just couldn't wait. I looked up into the trees this sunny morning and saw a tint of color on the leaves. Our ash tree in the front yard looks like it was painted with maroon paint on one side overnight. These pictures are from last year. I thought that they were so pretty...I'd show them again.The first picture is coming up Marrill Road leading to our house.Just look at that fall sky too.

As you come up the road on the left you can see the little railroad track that goes behind our woods. It is owned by Commonwealth Edison - the Byron Nuclear Power Plant. It isn't used more that a time or two a year. A turkey family can often be seen walking the track...occasionally a ground hog or a red fox can be seen. When fall comes this is the spot that many people come to see color. I feel so fortunate that I can enjoy each trip home from the grocery...just being able to see the colors of fall. 

 A ride along Highway 2 takes us to Oregon, Illinois. The Prairie Forest Preserve and the Lowden State Park are on the same road. In the same general area you will find  Castlerock and White Pines State Park.. Our part of the state is beautiful with so many natural attractions. Winding all the way from here to beyond is the beautiful Rock River.We so take for granted the beauty around us. 

 We go to the top of the bluffs over the river, where there is a big statue of Blackhawk. He stands majestically  there at the very top of Lowden State Park.Joe and I never tire of this trip. We do it about once a week this time of year. One of our simple pleasures is taking a drive and stopping for ice cream.

I love fall.. Sometimes I think I love it best of all. Nothing like sitting in the warm sun by the woods, with insects chirping and birds gathering...my skin soaking up the warmth.Of course there is spring with all it's rebirth...I guess it's a tie for me...which one I love most.

I love to preserve leaves. In my youth, we gathered leaves and pressed them between sheets of waxed paper. I learned the other day to take a "Matte Spray" and spray the leaves on both sides. This will preserve them for a little while. Isn't it fun to have a new tree and find the first leaf to fall to the ground in the fall? 

I love to sit and watch the little bugs scurrying around. This year there are no lady bugs or Japanese Beetles. I have watched the new Asian Beetle completely cover a bird house near the woods in past falls. You could pick them up like a sheet of bugs. I see Cicada skeletons on many trees in the woods.Have you seen a wooly worm yet? I enjoy all the folklore about nature. I keep an Old Farmer's Almanac.

Gold finches are changing color from bright yellow to their winter drab. They are enjoying the seeds on the cone flowers. I saw them this morning in the Black Eyed Susan patch.  A rustling in the leaves below...could it be the snake...or just a toad or chipmunk? A hummingbird moth just flits among the flowers that I am thinning out. The hummingbirds are on their migration now....good bye my little ones. safe journey to you.

The chipmunks were scampering around me today. As I worked on my herb garden...one hopped, skipped and jumped across the lawn and came so close...with an eye watching me. Like a little furry statue standing in the grass. I think that they like me to work outside. Could it be because I carry seeds in  my pocket?  :) The pond is quiet because I am outside. The bull frog, with his ga-lump sound makes me happy. 

The neighborhood is quiet at this time of day too. The school buses have made their rounds and the moms and dads are off to work. The trash has been collected from the houses. It's just me and the sunshine on a warm fall morning.Oh, how I wish it could last. 

Balisha