Autumn is in the Air
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The recent chilly mornings and the changing leaves remind me that autumn is here. Though I hate to see another summer flown past, I actually love the autumn time. It’s certainly one of the best seasons in Las Vegas. The sweltering heat has let up. The A/C can be turned off and for a month or so, it’s a nearly perfect temperature. The sun shines, the skies are usually blue and the foliage color… well, there isn’t any. Palm fronds don’t change color, they just dry up, hang down and eventually fall off.
We’re in Ohio, however, and the seasonal change is definitely upon us. The crisp mornings commanded our attention first. A couple of months ago, we rode early in the day to avoid the afternoon heat and humidity. We relished the tree-canopied trails that provided some respite from the sun. Now we’re lingering in the mornings, so it warms up a little before we hit the trail. We love the long expanses without tree cover so we can soak up some of the sun’s warmth. We’re layering up, but our hands and heads still get cold. If we continue to ride in cooler weather, we’ll have to consider headwear under our helmets, long-fingered gloves, and long pants.
As we drive and ride through small towns and along country roads, we can’t help but notice all the farm stands offering freshly harvested apples, fresh cider and all things pumpkin. We’ve stopped at several and indulged ourselves with apples. As for pumpkins, other than the big orange ones that get carved for Hallowe’en, I can do without them.
Local harvest fairs are in full swing. Signs advertise haunted houses and cornfield mazes. Colorful mums are for sale and many already adorn front doorsteps. Shocks of dry cornstalks and hay bales provide a setting for Fall and Hallowe’en decorations.
The stores are full of Hallowe’en costumes and spooky decor for inside and out. I’m looking forward to being home in a few weeks. I’ll drag out all the autumn and Hallowe’en paraphernalia and get into the spirit of the season.
The last of the wildflowers provide color to what will soon be a brown and drab trailside. Goldenrod (achoo!) is very prominent along the trailside as are purple and white asters. Some sunflowers still linger, but their petals are drooping and falling off.
Milkweed pods have burst open and their fluff and seeds float on the breeze as we ride by. Cattails are at their season’s end and the tails are all velvety. Cornfields are brown and some fields have already been turned over awaiting a winter crop or a long winter’s rest before spring planting.
We came upon a farmer’s fence with the last of the season morning glories decorating it. I couldn’t resist stopping.
Riding along the trails, red, yellow, and brown fallen leaves blanket our route. I appreciate the satisfying crunch of the brittle leaves under our bike tires.
Sometimes when we’re walking, we come upon fallen acorns and stomping on them almost seems compulsory. On the trail, we work hard to avoid fallen black walnuts. They’re large, hard, and when there are lots of them they present quite an obstacle for us.
Squirrels have been busy. We see them constantly in their hurry-scurry mode darting across the trail with a mouthful of something for their winter’s larder. We’ve also seen several woolly bear caterpillars in our travels lately… those big orange and black fuzzy ones. What I didn’t know is that these guys freeze solid in the winter, then thaw out and carry on as if by magic to emerge in the Spring as Isabella tiger moths. I remember my grandmother telling me that the woolly bears could predict winter.
From the Old Farmer’s Almanac “According to folklore, if the caterpillar’s orange band is narrow, the winter will be snowy; conversely, a wide band means a mild winter. And fuzzier-than-normal woolly bear caterpillars are said to mean that winter will be very cold.”
We’ve certainly noticed the shortening days. Since we’re in the western end of the eastern time zone here in Ohio, it’s dark when we wake in the morning and we tend to roll over and snooze a little longer till the day lightens up around 7:30. The sun doesn’t set till 7:30pm. Daylight Savings doesn’t kick in until November 6th this year, so mornings will stay dark here for awhile.
We’ve only got a few more weeks left before we’ll head back to Las Vegas. Though we enjoy the cool, we don’t enjoy the cold. We’ve adopted the philosophy that any place that sells snow shovels, snowmobiles and/or snowblowers is not a place for us. We’re content to enjoy the autumn here and head for home before the snow starts falling.