Tag: fall

the glow of a sunny fall morning

After a stretch of rainy days earlier in the week, Friday’s sun was a welcome change. While waiting for the school bus, my eyes were drawn to the glow of leaves every which way.


Most of the maple leaves had been knocked off the trees by the previous days’ wind and rain, and the few remaining hangers on appeared to float in the bright sunlight.


A few hovering maple leaves.


Can you spot the lone red maple leaf that caught my eye, appearing to float among the pine needles?


The kids, standing among the many freshly fallen leaves on our driveway, and enjoying the bright morning rays.


Even the pure evil that is poison ivy glowed enticingly in the sunlight.


I love the confusing patterns formed by the mingled orange and green oak leaves and their shadows.


The view up our street.

I do really love the fall, especially living here in New England.

assorted views of a tie-dye leaf

Today is the autumnal equinox here in the Northern Hemisphere, and the official first day of fall. I am going to use this as an excuse to post more photos of leaves. (Though, actually, it’s just multiple photos of the same leaf. But still…)

I was quite taken by the range of colors and patterns that could be seen on the surface of the same leaf.

It had quite a range of textures, too.

And it glowed beautifully when held up to the light.

This was a maple leaf that I found in my mother-in-law’s yard last September. Coincidentally, this was actually September 22nd of last year, which turns out was the autumnal equinox last year.

leaves of pink

I mentioned yesterday that a Japanese maple tree in my neighborhood, now looking quite orange, once produced fall leaves of a surprising pink color. Here are a few photos I took in the late fall of 2012.

Two fallen pink and purple leaves among the duller hues of the oak leaves.

I was also quite taken by the complex pattern and varying shades of pink, on the leaves, looking like a mosaic, or fish scales.

These photos were from November, so there is clearly quite a bit more time for this year’s leaves to change color. I’m rather curious to see what they’ll do.

Japanese maple in the morning sun

My neighbors’ Japanese maples are a regular source of enjoyment for me. The look of the leaves changes so dramatically from season to season, and even from hour to hour. I have photos from previous years where the red leaves had turned a purplish pink. This year they look a bit more yellowy orange. Or at least they did in the morning light a few days ago.

Really these are all crops of the same photo, but I wanted to show the beautiful color variation.

I especially love the way some of the leaves cast their shadows on other leaves.

It’s really feeling like fall these days. The nights have gone cool, and the air has a freshness to it. I do really love fall in New England.

fall forerunner

While out and about today, the late afternoon sun lit up this towering stray branch of a young Japanese maple.

Even though school has started, it’s still technically summer. Indeed, the last few days have even been among the hottest of the season in these parts. (Where were you in August, sunny 80-degree days?) But the nights have started to cool down, and the trees know fall is coming. One thing this means for me is that my phone and my camera will be filling up with colorful leaves. (I mean, pictures of them. It probably wouldn’t be good for my camera to be stuffed full of leaves.)

leaves of late fall

As we head into November, there are fewer leaves to be seen on the trees, but still plenty on the ground. While mostly not as flashy as the leaves of October, these late-fallen leaves still attract my eyes (and my camera lens). Before we know it, the leaves left on the ground will be buried under layers of dirt and snow, and once they reappear, they’ll be more of a soggy squishy mess.


Fallen oak leaves catching some afternoon rays.


These maple leaves at my mother-in-law’s house have twisted and curled themselves in ways that play with the light and shadows.


This (still-attached) ivy leaf seems quite heart-like to me, and I also liked it’s purple and green patterning.


I don’t know what sort of leaf this is, but it glowed nicely in the sun.


I enjoyed the way the blades of grass cast shadows on this curled maple leaf.


And here’s one late splash of flamboyant color: a Japanese maple leaf I encountered in a parking lot.

fading fall ferns

Here in the wooded parts of New England, there are plenty of ferns growing among the undergrowth. In the spring they poke up alien-looking shoots, which then unfurl and fan out into their more familiar fractal-like shapes. In summer, they typically appear in a range of greens, from bright chartreuse to deep forest green, and many a shade in between. In the fall, by mid-October, most of the green fades away, leaving a variety of other colors: reddish browns and soft yellows, along with the palest of minty greens.


This is a rather blurry photo I took last year, which doesn’t do justice to the colors, but gives a sense of the range.

This year, I was quite taken with some ferns that had faded almost completely to white, but without otherwise looking withered.

I loved the way the bright white shapes stood out against the dark fallen oak leaves.


This fern looks very feathery in white.


Zooming in, you can see how perfectly the fern kept its shape.

Find the fading fall ferns fascinating? Feel free to fill the fine form that follows.¹

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¹ And by that I mean “please leave a comment,” except with a lot more alliteration.²
² And by that, I meant that I used a lot more alliteration above. But if you wish to leave a comment with a lot more alliteration, please proceed!

take it or leave it

Time ran away from me, as it so often does. Among work and appointments and grocery shopping and a dozen other things big and small, the hours of my day were eaten up. I find myself once more at 11:00 rushing to put up something to post. I had been planning to go all retro and post a ThThTh list, it being Thursday at all, but it was not to be. I still have more work to do before bed, and I can barely hold my eyes open as it is. So, here are some photos I took this morning before the school bus came. These large leaves on some roadside plant caught my eye across the street. Like so many of the plants I photograph, I haven’t the slightest clue what it is. But I liked the shape of the leaves, and the way they dangled from the stems, making a sort of garland.

This oak leaf interloper also caught my eye, trapped in the tangle of twigs over the big stems, and appearing suspended in mid-air.

I would also note that some of these leaves were impressively large. If memory serves (though frankly, at this hour, that’s a big if), I believe the front leaf in this photo is about a foot long. That one had flipped around in the wind, making the patterns of its leafy veins more visible.

That’s all I have for tonight.