Tuesday, October 5, 2010

A picture-book, no more.


This to me is the magical time of the year - Autumn. First, because I seem to be happier. Maybe because it is not too hot, and not too cold during the day. I dreaded night time though because then the temperature falls dramatically.

However, along with the temperature change also came a flurry of activities. The farmers are busy putting in their harvest of corn and soybeans and all along the sides of the roads you will see the left overs of the process of harvest. Then comes a splash of new color here and there. A little red here, a little orange there, and yellows everywhere. The new colors trigger the thoughts and puts me in a different frame of mind. For some reason, I forgot about my fear of winter because the beautiful scenery has become the main attraction.

I am very happy when Ken took me last Monday on a long road trip to the northern part of Minnesota so I can see the burst of colors. They say the color of the leaves there are peaking so fast that if we blink we may miss it. So off we go, without much of a plan as to where the road will take us. He just thought we should go to Duluth and just follow nature's trail from there.

It was a sight to behold! Nature's palette definitely had a designer. Oranges, from burnt-orange to orange-yellow. Yellows, from buttery-yellow to butterscotch. Brick-red, fire-red, and brown. Then there is the generous amounts of copper, bronze, and gold which can make any man feel rich. The colors are so rich, in fact, that they become too rich for the tree, hence they shed them.

From the car my eyes feasted on the drifting beauty before me. I hum a tune as the car coast along lakes, rivers and mountains all displaying festivities of color. The green seems out of place, but I guess being admonished by the proud yellows for not yet being in costume. Today, we found ourselves coasting along a motorized-deserted road. It seems nature just did a show for only the two of us! It was breath-taking at the same time amazing at how one can get an adrenalin rush just by watching as simple as the turning of the leaves.

I hope that you too can grab the front seat to this awesome show. Take a minute to look out from your window as this beauty will soon fade into obscurity.

Oh, let me mention that we were pleasantly surprise to find a little cozy bistro in Rush City that served very good food. And to top it, they got mango frosty which gave me a taste of home. Perfect!

6 comments:

Tracey said...

Yes, it's the prettiest time of year.
When all the leaves drop on the floor....then it's the muckiest! xxx

Chicken Boys said...

I do enjoy the fall, too. But you can keep winter. Don't like the cold at all. I've been up there to Montana, Minnesota, Michigan when I was a truck driver. It is quite beautiful this time of year.
~Randy

BadPenny said...

You write beautifully. Autumn is my favourite time of the year too.

Sid Brechin said...

Odette you will never tire of the change you are describing as it is different everytime.

Tracey I have to agree with you about the driving ( won't call it mucky as I mostly lived in the city and there it made a special kind of problem ). Here we call them Streetcars, there you may call them trolley cars. Thing is they are electric, have steel wheels and run on tracks. Leaves when they get to a certain stage of decay, where you can still tell they are leaves but are all an odd shade of brown. Produce this oil like substance on their surface that cars will skid on but is like oil between steel on steel. Street cars have a gadget by the front wheels that drop sand on the rail each time the rail is applied. With this whatever it is sand is no match for it and also you go through much more sand. I have seen a streetcar take over a mile to stop and the top speed for them is only 40 mph. ( okay we modified some in the yard for testing and they have no top speed in theory but will jump the tracks for sure if you get them over 100 mph. I only did that once and it was under orders with a car full of engineers and technicians. None of whom remembered they have special emergency brakes that will come on at that speed. When the brakes came on automatically we wound up with a huge pile of men and gear at the back seat of the car. 44 feet back.

Odette I was going to say treat driving on leaves like driving on ice but you haven't seen that yet. So for the first winter make sure if you drive you follow exactly the instructions of an experienced driver sitting beside you.

ADMIN said...

Hi Odette!
Fall is pretty, and I can imagine how pretty it must be where you are now.
How did that road trip turn out?
hugs to you! Mimi

Sid Brechin said...

Just a weird note. When I first click on your page I get a message it doesn't exist. No big deal I hear Rene Decartes walked into a bar. The Bartender said "Rene Care for a Beer" Rene said " I think not " and disapered in a puff of logic ( as most know his most famous quote is I think therefore I am ). However when I click on the message that says you don't exit I go right to your page.

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