Yesterday turned out to be a golden autumn afternoon, so I went outside with my camera, to capture some of the gold in my woods before it's gone. And while I was out there snapping pictures, some curious deer came out of the woods and stood around watching me the entire time.
So, I snapped a picture of them as
well.
Because of the extremely dry and hot August, I was afraid we wouldn't have the usual beautiful colors this fall. I'm pleased that I was wrong.
I've read that the best conditions for a good showing of color are the right amount of moisture and falling but not freezing temperatures, and these we've had in the past week or so. And surprisingly, dry weather, increases the sugar concentration in the sap.
The brightest fall colors occur when dry, sunny days are followed by cool, dry nights. An early hard frost, which is in our forecast for next week, will kill the leaves before they have a chance to complete their final shut-down. So, a beautiful display of color depends on a magical combination of sunlight, soil nutrients, and cool nights.
The poem by one of my favorite poets, Edna St. Vincent Millay, captures the feeling of a golden autumn afternoon perfectly:
God's World
O world,
I cannot hold thee close enough!
Thy winds, thy wide grey skies!
Thy mists, that roll and rise!
Thy woods, this autumn day, that ache and sag
And all but cry with colour!
That gaunt cragTo crush!
To lift the lean of that black bluff!
World, World, I cannot get thee close enough!
Long have I known a glory in it all,
But never knew I this;
Here such a passion is
As stretcheth me apart,--
Lord, I do fear
Thou'st made the world too beautiful this year;
My soul is all but out of me,--let fall
No burning leaf; prithee, let no bird call.
Edna St. Vincent Millay
It has been a GRRRRR morning! The HTML got messed up and I had to redo this post. Greg, of course, thinks it's amusing. But I'm going back to bed! GRRRR!
My last hibiscus flower of the season is lovely. I took the photo yesterday as a heavy frost was in the forecast for overnight. And it's chilly this morning! It's always a bit sad to see a beautiful thing come to an end. Oh, well, there is always next summer to look forward to!
We spent some time in beautiful Mammoth Spring last week. You see some reds showing up around the river there.
The hills around here are slowly getting colorful as well, but still have a way to go. 
