Late Fall

 Warm fall weather kept our leaves on the trees for longer than usual this year. This is a fall sunrise through autumn leaves. 

It is hard to beat a sugar maple for beautiful foliage as its leaves change color. For the first day or two after leaf drop the forest floor is aglow with vibrant hues until they fade to brown.

Mum's the word. My wife has an October birthday and we have a son who works at a greenhouse, so we often have a mum show up around the time of her celebration. Her favorite color is purple.

One more trip to Lake Michigan before the cold weather sets in for good. This was a warm fall day so we hiked at Hoffmaster State Park and then along the shoreline, cooling our feet in the lake.

Our son likes mushrooms and these are some beauties. Just looking not eating these.

I spotted a giant puffball while I walked one day so had to take a pic for our son to see.

My first tornado? I have always kind of wanted to see a twister. As we shopped at a furniture store, I heard a customer say something like, "Hey, is that a tornado?" That got my heart rate up for a second as I scooted to the front door to assess our danger status. We seemed to be okay, but in the center of this picture, if you zoom in, you will see a possible funnel cloud at the horizon. We later heard on the news that a funnel cloud had been spotted in the direction this pic is showing. A funnel cloud is not a tornado. A tornado is a funnel cloud that touches down to the ground. This and a couple of other weak funnel clouds were spotted that afternoon.

"You cut the apples and I will make an apple crisp." That's what my wife says to me. I am not a huge dessert fan but I do love apple crisp. But, this year I am being even more careful about what I eat, so when my wife figured out how to make cinnamon applesauce in the instant pot with no sugar added it became an instant hit. We love it. I sprinkle quick oats on top for a delicious, healthy dessert. Recently we made cranberry sauce and I put applesauce on my plate, put a dollop of cranberry sauce in the middle of the applesauce and then sprinkle quick oats over all and it is delicious. The cinnamon applesauce and oatmeal combo reminds me of apple crisp and it is "good for you!"

This is an oak tree with a maple tree growing out of its base. I think the oak had a second trunk that broke off near ground level. The maple grew from the resulting cavity and this is the outcome. It is remarkable how nature finds a way to reproduce itself.

 

Watch for deer as you drive at any time of day or night in the fall. This little buck was watching us as we walked by, so we watched him, too. See the doe to the left side of the pic? I see steaks and roasts. Yum! Look at that beautiful white patch on the neck under the buck's chin. I like to see how the bucks "bulk up" in the neck etc. during the rutting season.

Thornapple River beauty in late fall. The tree in the river is a branch that came down last summer. In the spring I mentioned to my wife that it looked like it was leaning more towards the river and I thought it would fall sometime in the next few years. I was wrong about the timing. It fell in the next few weeks. The river pushed the huge branch around so it is now parallel to the shoreline. It is from a silver maple tree.

It is still fall but we are transitioning into winter. Compare this pic with the first picture in this post and note the lack of leaves on the trees and the presence of snow! It is beautiful to look at and treacherous to drive in. Be careful, folks, in your winter driving. Many folks' lives are forever changed from being involved in a traffic situation that could have been avoided. Give yourself time. Slower is usually safer in winter.