Pre-peak fall colors (see entire photo gallery) are best, IMHO. And I’ve been taking time to get out and enjoy them with the digital camera I’ve bartered for with Norman Butler at The Contented Cow.
Maybe I’m just getting better at paying attention, but both the sumac and the tree vines seem more brilliant red this year than usual.
When I get out for a walk in the Carleton Arb or drive my daughter to school, the contrast with the still-green grass and leaves, along with the yellowing corn, soybeans, and various weeds continues to amaze me, even though I’ve lived around here my entire life.
I discovered this Elm tree last fall in the Upper Arb, encased in a flaming red wrap of vines. I’ve been waiting for it to peak this year, and it’s pretty close. A shot at sunset would be better but it’s been cloudy at dusk for the past week and I might not get it.
The camera slows me down and keeps my brain from drifting when I’m out for a walk, but so does a walk with my wife. She’s way better at noticing small stuff — a mushroom, a fungus, spots on leaves, a single flower. I tend to notice bigger stuff, like this spot in the Lower Arb near the Waterford Bridge where a stand of red (Norway) pines transports me to the forests around Lake Superior, or the nearby “tunnel trail.”
Life’s good. I’m lucky. Things change. Go Twins.