A fall first

 For the first time in five months, I saw a sunset from the cabin last night.  The woods around the cabin are so dense I can't see very far during the leafy season.  A strong breeze over the weekend dropped many of the leaves, though I'd guess that still more than half remain. Or course, it was the colored leaves that fell, so this morning the forest looks a bit greener than these photos show.

I took these photos on Saturday morning, before the wind really kicked up, though already more than a few of the leaves had dropped.  Surrounded by forest, when the leaves drop, it's as though it's raining leaves, and it's loud.  What would be a soft crackle when just a few trees are involved is magnified hundreds of times over, and in the strongest breezes I'd have to shoult to make myself heard to someone standing next to me.

The leaf drop will probably lessen the impact of this year's peak day of color, but I'm happy enough to be able to see beyond my deck again that I can't say that I mind.  There's still plenty of leaves left.  Not enough have fallen yet for me to be able to see the few lights from houses that sit along the road at the base of Nell's Hill.  That won't happen until the very end of the season.  But I can see the top and left side of this mountain again, so my evening sunsets are back.


Nell's Hill - week 2

  My second view today is another view of Nell's Hill, taken exactly one week after the view I posted last week (and re-posted here below today).  The change in the amount of color is quite noticeable, especially at the base of the little mountain where the temperature is cooler. This next weekend will likely be the peak for the color change on the mountain--assuming more leaves aren't lost in wind or the heavy rain that is (also again!) predicted for Wednesday of this week.  I'll guess I'll just have to wait until this upcoming weekend to see how that goes.