When Summer Turns to Autumn

Leafy yard and an old shed on the property.

Due to a busy holiday, I have had no time to work on my walking stick project.  I spent all day yesterday trying to get as many chores and errands done as I could so I would have a large block of time to work on it this week.  Since I don't have any new project pictures to show, I thought I'd put up some photos from our trip to the cabin. 

Wild flowers like this daisy are everywhere.

Apples on the trees.

Although there are fixed dates for when one season ends and another begins based on Solstices and Equinoxes, the end of season is more of a point of view.  I grew up in a beach resort area.  Summer ended on Labor Day weekend.  (Although for a number of years now the tourist season has been extended for a few weekends by adding festivals of one sort or another.)  Most people don't consider Autumn to begin until the weather turns chilly and the leaves start to fall.  Actually, the change of season is not so cut and dried.  Season's flow into one another gradually.  The beginning of the change from one season to another is easy to miss if you aren't paying attention. 

My pictures today are about the beginning of the change of season.  Up in the higher elevations the beginning of the change of season has already begun.  We arrived to find the yard already had lots of leaves down.  Over the long weekend, we were able to note just a tinge of change in the color of the leaves on the trees.  We have had a lot of rain this year.  The trees are not as colorful in a wet year and the leaves drop quicker.

Summer is still here also.  Any open sunny spot is filled with wild flowers and weeds.  The days were comfortably in the upper seventies (Fahrenheit).  It was humid.  In the afternoon and evening we had a nice rain.  It was they type of rain you enjoy listening to while sitting on the porch. 

Leaves are already changing.

One of our tasks this trip was to start raking leaves.  There were already enough down that we removed several tarp loads.   The trees are still green and full of leaves, but each day you could see just the slightest change in the color on some of the trees, a few dull reds or a slightest change to yellow.  There is no doubt about it, Autumn is starting to come in.

Weeds and flowers on the hillside.

The nights are starting to turn cool up there.  I expect that this is the last trip this year that we will be wearing shorts.  It was already cool enough in the evenings that we had to switch to long pants.

Now that the holiday is over, I am expecting to spend a lot of time in the studio this week.  Actually, a good deal of it will be spent working on my outside work bench.  I plan to be doing the wood burning outside if the weather cooperates.  I don't know that I will get all of the story wood burned on the stick, but I expect to get a significant portion of that completed.

A note to readers:  The blog location is listed in Mechanicsville, where I live.  The location of these photos is in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, USA.