Two Walks & Two Rides

Autumn color this year has been a patchy affair. Weeks of rain and wind knocked the blazes out of the tender sugar maples, tearing down their glory of scarlet leaves before they could finish turning. Walnut trees quickly gave up the fight, and dropped their bright gold with scarcely a whimper.

So murky and tempestuous was the weather that I almost despaired of getting any fall-color photos. But finally, one Thursday afternoon, the rain stopped long enough for a walk to the park.

There I saw mushrooms growing under oak trees:

A charmingly haphazard arrangement of oak leaves caught in a fence:

The last of the asters, shivering in the wind:

Straggly coneflowers daring to bloom in the cold:

Maple leaves blown sideways by the icy blast:

Burning bush living up to its name:

A tree caught in the act of changing:

Another in full autumn dress:

At last! Some of the colour my soul had been craving:

Small white asters still blooming next to the lake:

And, on the way home, rivers of gold in the gutter:

I'm glad I caught a bit of fall colour after all.

Sunday Walk

A few days later, on a drizzly Sunday afternoon, I walked to the prairie restoration project. Along the way, the marshy lake-around-the-corner floated a living carpet of wild geese. Here are just a few of them:

A trail through trees is always fascinating:

No living flowers were spotted on this walk, but I saw plenty of interesting dried ones:

The prairie grasses are lovely in autumn, but very hard to photograph (especially on a windy day). I love the delicate seeds of this variety:

Also spotted were several flavours of chocolate-colored leaves, and a feather in the grass:

Tawny grasses, nearly-bare tree, and winding green path under a leaden sky:

More wild geese on a pond, with a hint of autumn colour behind them:

Autumn is beautiful no matter what the colour of the sky, but oh, how we were longing for sunshine....

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Thursday Ride

Finally, after all the weeks of November-like gloom and damp, October finally woke up and started behaving itself. The first chance I got, I headed out on the bike for some icy-fresh autumn air and sunshine.

Birch trees sported lime-green leaves, and oaks were shining bronze, under the brilliant blue sky:

A leaf lay on the road next to my wheel:

Another oak blushed rosy-red:

"Where are you going this fine day?" asked a friendly calf:

"Up the hill to look for treasure," I replied.

I found it, too. Golden sunshine:

Ruby leaves:

And sapphire water under turquoise skies:

A glorious autumn ride.

Sunday Ride

A few days later, the sun still shone, though the wind was fiercely cold.

Here's Iris the bike resting against the bridge at one of my favourite photo spots:

Iris and I passed gates propped hospitably open into a drying cornfield:

Then rounded a curve...

...to see a flock of turkeys sitting in the middle of the road ahead. Of course by the time I got my camera out they were scurrying for the woods:

Racing my shadow along the edge of a marsh:

One last photo, of larch trees turning pale at the thought of winter to come:

The cycling season is winding down. I don't know how many more rides the year holds, but I hope they're all as beautiful as the last few have been. (And I hope the October weather continues sunny!)

How's October treating you?

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P.S. Several readers have emailed me to say they haven't been able to leave comments, so I'm trying out some changes with the commenting system below. If you are able to leave a comment, would you let me know how it worked for you? Thanks. :)

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