What Happened To Autumn?

If you love autumn like I love autumn, then you might agree with me that it goes by way too quickly!  And believe me, I try to squeeze every last moment out of the season - from sun-up 

to sun-down, each and every day. 

 It feels like just a couple of weeks ago that we walked our woods surrounded by leaves of the warmest hues.  What seemed like just days after that, our feet crunched freshly fallen, dry leaves.  Now we hike paths with leaves that are half decayed, returning their nutrients to the forest floor - food for next summer's growth. 

The weather has turned colder and we experienced our first tiny snow of the winter.  Friday morning we awoke to snow falling and a slight dusting on the ground.  

Nothing accumulated, but it did serve as a warning that Autumn is contemplating his departure.

It was enough to discourage the chickens from leaving their house early, like they normally do.

And barn kitties were in no hurry to leave their cozy beds!

Our weekend was a good mixture of quiet and activity...  with plenty of play time for a very active pup!

Apparently, no stick is too big for this boy!

Saturday morning we headed to the city for the Holiday Parade.  It brought back wonderful childhood memories for me.  We always went to the this parade when I was little- it was a pretty big deal in those days!

Mackenzie's dance school was marching in the parade... 

Our little dancing reindeer...

The rest of Saturday was spent at home, making sourdough English muffins and another batch of Orange Calendula soap, 

and walking the woods with the dogs.  I ordered high visibility vests for each of them for safety during hunting season. They should arrive early this week - then all of us will be out in fluorescent orange!

We took a long walk in the woods yesterday and found that several more trees had fallen with the winds that blew in last week's cold front.  This one snapped off about 5 feet up the trunk and landed right beside the trunk.  Unfortunately, it blocks the trail and needs to be taken the rest of the way down.

 Sadly, our woods used to be filled with Eastern Hemlock trees.  However, a wooly adelgid infestation has caused the loss of almost all of them.  The few that we have left don't survive windstorms.  Luckily, new beech and birch trees are growing in their places.

Curiously, I found these two trees.  They looked as though one was standing with its arm around the other.

A closer look showed that a hemlock tree branch crossed over the cherry tree next to it, and the two became fused together... with the cherry growing around the hemlock branch... two inseparable souls.

Mushrooms are sparse at this time of year... 

but we did find a few of the usual... jellies

Most of what we see now are the types that live off of dying trees.

Nature never ceases to amaze me.  We have so much to learn about her mysterious ways.   Perhaps if mankind were a little more humble,  and stopped trying to dominate her, Nature might teach us how we can save ourselves!