The reasoning behind this autumn trip to Michigan was that this would be a lovely time of the year to drive across Canada, down through Vermont and New Hampshire and into Maine to see all the fall colors on the trees. When we left here over three weeks ago the leaves were not doing a darn thing in the way of changing color. They were green . . . dark green, light green and medium green. If you looked real hard you might be able to pick out a tree that was thinking about turning yellow but they were few and far between. In Maine the trees weren't even thinking about turning color. In fact I think they were getting greener each day we were there. A week later on our return trip from Maine to Michigan there were a few trees beginning to get a touch of red, yellow and orange but nothing notable enough to take a photo of them. By the time we got back to D's home the trees in his yard had more color than all the trees we had seen on our journey but even these trees were dull and drab. I asked D if he knew what causes the leaves on the trees to be vibrant some years and drab other years but he didn't have a clue.
Just before I left Florida for my adventure I received in the mail a "Farmers Almanac" from some charity looking for a donation. I tossed the small magazine in my back pack and didn't give it another thought. It remained with me, unread for the duration of our adventure. When we returned home I found the almanac in the bottom of my bag and in a quiet moment, (of which there are MANY), I looked through it to see if I could be enlightened on any topic contained within. Low and behold there was an article all about what makes the leaves turn color ! Go figure ! So here it is . . . NO ONE KNOWS ! No, that's not true . . . there are very scientific reasons behind Autumn foliage. It actually depends on a lot of factors . . . rain and drought make a difference. Cold and heat make a difference AND the amount of sunlight is the key to brilliant or dull colors. It was a very mild fall up here with lots and lots of rain so the trees turned color late and are very pale due to the lack of sunlight. I was up here 2 years ago and the trees surrounding this property were spectacular ! This year they just look washed out. But even still I am on the lookout for a good photo moment. It had been raining every day since our return so there was no way I was going out to take pictures. But then the weather turned and the last 3 days here were beautiful. Temperatures in the mid sixties, brilliant sunshine and finally DRY. The huge mud lake, (it is too big to be called a puddle) in the middle of the field was finally drying up and the deer were no longer sinking hip deep in mud as they crossed the yard. It was so lovely I actually was thinking I could stay here forever enjoying the country. Sadly it was too late for the trees to have bright colors but I thought I might just get a nice photo or two anyway. We were busy Tuesday and Wednesday so my plan was to take out my camera on Thursday and get some pictures of the best of the trees. Instead I got up yesterday feeling like I had been run over by a logging truck. It seems I had picked up a 24 hour bug that put me down for the full 24 hours which I spent sleeping.
No photos were being taken yesterday but there is ALWAYS another day.
HA ! We woke up this morning to torrential rain which lasted ALL day. I mean it rained like I have only seen in Florida during our epic "Rainy Season" down pours. And even then the Florida rain will only last a half hour at best where as today it rained for the entire day. It finally let up around six o'clock tonight so I walked outside to feed the deer, put out the garbage and pick up the mail at the end of the driveway.
The leaves were lovely !
Too bad they are all lying on the ground.
No comments:
Post a Comment