Subdued Autumn

 

I finally did my walk on the Winona Trails. Lots of people out there today walking, biking, running, walking dogs, even one lady in a wheelchair.

 Though there are yellow, red, some orange leaves, the colors seem subdued this year. At the church potluck today someone mentioned the foliage seemed to be falling off quickly as well. It was mostly the golden yellow standing out on this afternoon.

I took the tripod that my sister-in-law no longer wanted on the walk. It isn’t very heavy, but it is kind of awkward to carry around and put the camera on and take off. I would say the scene of the creek and the berries would have been blurry without the tripod.

If I were going to a flower show or botanical garden where close-ups would be quite likely, the tripod would be a must. Otherwise, probably not.

The Heritage Trail/Greenway has several art installations.

The fences add color.

Not a lot of interest to photograph really, but it was a pleasant day with wind rustling the leaves.  I didn’t walk the trail section from the Miller Athletic Complex to Grace College Campus. Maybe another time yet this fall though I guess the window is getting narrow for leaf peeping.

A Walk In the Woods

My husband bought a trail bike about 6 weeks ago. He heads out from our house thru some trees and college cross-country running trails, crosses Pierceton Road, and then enters the world of Winona Lake trail biking. You can see the trail layout and interesting names on this map. It is a pretty extensive system. Today he wanted me to walk some of the paths with him so I could see what he enjoys so much early mornings. He has a more solitary experience than we had today and often sees deer. Lots of people out in the near-perfect weather of 74 degrees this afternoon. A few of the colorful names are not on the map such as Privy Point and Puke Point but there is signage to that effect.

 

I especially liked the first part of the walk as we traveled alongside part of Cherry Creek. Leaves floated down on the gentle breeze and carpeted the forest. As we started out, we saw a downy woodpecker on a tree trunk. I have missed those since moving to our condo. At our former house, there were several dying and decaying trees which attracted them and other woodpeckers and flickers.

 

 

The trees are still wearing the fall foliage. My little point-and-shoot camera doesn’t do them justice.

 

I had my husband drop me off at the congregant housing part of the retirement village. I wanted to photograph the beautiful mums there. A few peppers and tomatoes in the garden. In the dining room the gardening club puts out produce to share. Mostly green tomatoes today. I picked up a few and I am going to try making fried green tomatoes tomorrow for lunch. I have never tried making those; we did enjoy some in a restaurant in Asheville, North Carolina many years ago. I picked a recipe from the internet. What has been your experience with fried green tomatoes? Any recipe suggestions or tips? I’ll let you know how they turn out.

Tomorrow the temps are expected to plunge into the 50s for the daytime. Fried green tomatoes might go well with chicken noodle soup and chocolate chip cookies.