Gorgeous weather

The weather today was wonderful.  I thought it was perfect for the pumpkin festival where one of the bands that Caleb plays in would be performing.  Alas, I was confused; the pumpkin festival is next week.
But the weather was perfect, nonetheless.  I sat on the porch and ate my cereal and noticed that the golden bell bushes are turning burgundy.  They look pretty with the goldenrods in front of them.  I pointed that out to Roger and he said the flowers seem brighter in fall.  He must be seeing this mum on the steps.

 

We took advantage of the nice day to take a walk at the nature preserve.

We saw lichens and mushrooms.

 

Here, if you look carefully, you will see the sun shining on the aerial roots of a large grapevine that is growing on a steep hillside.  They just captured my attention this time because of the lighting.

I always like to see the little waterfall.

 

 My favorite walking partner stands out in orange.

 

Watch out for the snake--oh, it's just a root painted black and studded with metal eyes.

 

There is one trail where we had seen some trees during the dormant season that I thought were sourwoods.  Then I started second guessing myself and wondering if they were sassafrass.  Today we were able to see them with the leaves.  They are sourwoods.  Most of the leaves on the trees throughout the preserve were still green, but there were some signs of early fall such as dropped acorns and red dogwood berries.

I love looking at the sunlight through a canopy of leaves.

 

Even though it was around noon, the dew droplets still clung to the fuzzy mullein leaves.

 

I hope you had a chance to get out and enjoy the weather.