Safety in Numbers

They feel braver when they stand together.

Intense Yellow Takes Center Stage

Subtle Rainbow

It's only in the last ten years that I've been noticing ash trees, and now I would be lost without them, especially in fall.

Trees at Peterson Park, Leelanau Township

Splashes of October Color

As today is a dreary grey and wet October Tuesday, I'm going back to Saturday for these bright fall images. The sun will return tomorrow, and I can post here in black and white and feel okay about it.

I TOLD You We Still Have Color!

This is only a small selection of beautiful scenes that lined my drive home on Friday afternoon. Now it's Saturday morning, the sun is shining, and the colors are fairly shouting.




Moreover, orchard color hasn't even begun. I had to hunt to find a few orange leaves on cherry trees, but in a week or so these trees will be splendid.

Wind This Week in Our Neighborhood

Looking west over M-22 on Wednesday, I could see clearly the chop of the waves on Lake Michigan. The view from Jelinek Road on Thursday (below) was much the same....


...and here from high on Kovarik Road you can see a lake freighter taking the sheltered route, the Manitou Passage, between the mainland and the Manitou Islands.

Inviting Road

Before the Wind Bent Them Out of Shape

I was very happy with my begonias this year. When the four small plants went into the big pot, I planned to fill in with something else but never got around to it. The begonias did the filling-in by themselves.

In the Breeze and On the Ground

Their airy lightness lifts my heart.



On the ground they look like stars fallen to earth, still glowing.

Monarch Chrysalis

If ever I could talk my friend Kathie into setting up a photo blog, you would be able to see the chrysalis become transparent, revealing the damp, furled butterfly within, and then see it make its sure way out into the world.

Walking with Friends in Fall Color

Monday was another perfect Leelanau fall day, and with Bruce filling in for me at the bookstore, I was free to meet friends for a walk in the woods. While waiting for them to arrive, I took in a few close-up wonders around the parking lot--the scarlet leaves and softly furred stems of sumac and a tiny spider on a big brown oak leaf.





Ah, here they are! Now we can hit the trail!


Every step of the path through the wooded dunes is inviting, but my friends and I step slowly, looking high and low...



and up and down.



Changes in elevation and soil bring changes in plant life.


A new trail loop skirts around the open dunes, rather than through the fragile habitat, culminating in a viewing platform over the gurgling creek. Most pleasant. Although my friends were upset by the confusing nature of the trail markings, they had both already been lost on recent occasions and now, luckily for me, knew the right way to go.



In leisurely fashion (for we are not speed hikers) we take in nature's miniature masterpieces--




as well as the big picture views.




There were short stretches of the walk where I lagged behind,



lingering over views on the ground and up through the leaves:



And the day was not over when we finished our loops.


Back at Ellen's house after our walk we continued our visit, talking of books and nature, life and death, travel and home. We enjoyed her homemade soup...


with Stone House bread...

and admired the beautiful fall colors in her garden.



Altogether, it was a most beautiful and satisfying day, one for which to be grateful in many ways.