Frost-painted leaves
The past week has ebbed and flowed with both activity and pure laziness. I find myself settling into the slower pace of autumn, and trying to mentally prepare for the onset of winter.
The trees in my yard are now totally bare, and the ground is covered with dull brown leaves. Gone are the beautiful golden canopies which shaded the yard from the sun. My world is becoming “plain” again, with muted colors of brown, tan, and gray.
A few days ago, my outside thermometer read 29F. I didn’t see any frost on my deck plants, and my sunflowers were still doing OK, although the leaves seemed to be drooping. I knew that it wouldn’t be long before the cold came and killed off all the flowers. That cold came last night.
I woke to a sugar coating of frost on my deck plants, my sunflowers, and the ground. I almost lost my footing when I went out to take photos of my flowers; the deck was slippery too. You’d never know that the morning was so chilly, as the sun is shining brightly now and it feels like a typical autumn day. As I type this, it’s 44F, but it feels much warmer with the sun shining. I just wish the trees still had their leaves. Then I could pretend it was still early fall, and we had several weeks ahead of us before the first snow falls.
Here are a few photos I took this morning:
