colors of autumn

The midwest isn't known for its fall color, esp. out here in the corn/soybean belt. Forgottonia, however, happens to be near one smallish and a couple of good-sized rivers, so it's not as table-top flat as, say Kansas. It isn't spectacular, but it does roll a good bit, and since giant tractors can't manage very well on rolling hills, there are still a few places that are pasture and woods. And, of course, trees planted in town. I offer a very small selection of local trees, taken hastily this morning before the wind blew all the leaves off things.

This is the green ash tree outside my backdoor. Most years it's yellow, but some years it turns this luminous amber; this is one of those years. You should see how it glows when the sunshine fills it. I'm not sure what the bright yellow tree in the background is, but it makes a pretty composition.

It looks a bit like a peach, doesn't it? Golden with a rosy blush at the edges.

The building where I work has a pond in front of it, and the pond is surrounded by trees. I see this on my way to work.

And this is what I see when I get there.

We have a white oak and a red oak growing in front of the building, and they usually turn a color like expensive leather, very rich, but this year it might have been too dry for them; they're no longer green, but neither are they in their usual fall glory. The tulip trees outside my front door are the same; usually they turn butter-yellow, but this year the leaves are just falling off without turning.

I'm sorry I can't get out toward the rivers to get some pictures of the wooded hills. It's not New England, but it's still beautiful.