A fine day

Yesterday turned out to be an unexpectedly fine day.  We were waiting to see if Caleb would be called in to work, and Roger suggested a walk at the local nature preserve (which is one of my favorite places).  The road there always has some of the prettiest fall foliage.  Caleb shot this pic of the yellow leaves of a maple.  They look so pretty against the dark trunk and branches.

 

We had an invigorating walk at the nature preserve, and enjoyed the pretty scenery there. 

We found out Caleb wouldn't be going in to work, so it was nice to have his company all day.  We went out for lunch; Roger got his free Veterans Day entrée, and Caleb and I used a gift card that I had been holding since last December. 

Since we had lunched in Wake Forest, afterward I wanted to go to nearby E. Carroll Joyner Park and see if there were any pecans to be scavenged.

(I will insert a side note here about E. Carroll Joyner, the man who donated the land for the park.  He has been a wonderful philanthropist in our area.  His bio indicates he had modest beginnings--selling vegetables and washing cafeteria dishes to pay for college.  He is also an Army veteran.  He established the North Carolina Cattlemen's Foundation, which supports beef cattle research at his alma mater, N.C. State.  I don't know him personally, but I did encounter him once when I was on a farm tour at Steve and Martha Mobley's Meadow Lane Farm.  Mr. Joyner came across as an intelligent, enthusiastic, and just all-around-nice guy.)

The park is absolutely fantastic.  The clouds had cleared and the afternoon sun was lighting up the fall foliage.  There is a huge sycamore on one of the trails.  (I'm a little worried that one of the informative signs which mentions a huge beech tree might actually be referring to the sycamore.)  I had Caleb to take a picture of it in all its bronze and white glory.



There were other trees that were glowing in the afternoon sun.  Here are an oak and hickory.  (Caleb's pics.)

 

We did find some pecans that the other visitors and squirrels had left.  Caleb entertained himself by throwing a stick into the tree to knock down some of the nuts while Roger took a break in one of the large swings.  Fortunately, Caleb had left a Squidgie disc in the car, and the three of us enjoyed tossing it awhile.

Lots of folks were having family portraits made at the park, and I imposed upon Caleb to take a shot of Roger and me.  (I have selected one which doesn't have Roger with his tongue out.)

I will also add this one, which shows some of the fall colors in the upper right corner of the picture.

 

As we drove home about sunset, some dark clouds were covering the eastern sky. The setting sun on the trees with the backdrop of clouds made a surreal landscape which Caleb tried to capture with his phone as we rode along.

 

It was such a lovely, lovely day.