I took a drive up the road earlier to check on the progression of autumn color. Here along the river, things are still mostly green, with only a few rusty yellow hints. Even the Virginia creeper curling up the trunks of of the sycamores shows barely a blush of pink; it will probably be a week or two before it turns a flaming crimson.
This isn't unusual—the autumn patchwork of yellows and scarlets, oranges, golds, lemons, scarlets, burgundies, and a hundred other hues, always lags behind that of the nearby roadsides and woodlands a few hundred yards away from the stream corridor. Whether it's the mitigating effect of the water, the slightly lower elevation, or the degree of protection afforded by the banks, I'm not certain. All I know is that sometimes, when I've not been beyond the mailbox for a few days in a row, the short jaunt to the grocery can prove a revelation. 
However, this morning's brief recon ramble proved surprising in that there was less color other than the usual green out there than I expected. More color than here…but only a bit. Leaves on a single maple branch that had jumped-the-gun on their neighbors and turned orange or red or yellow. A few twists of crimson woodbine. Here and there a clump of sumac whose long leaves show a mix of scarlet among the green. The most colored-up tree I found was the little sugar maple pictured at the top of this post.
Autumn is definitely making its way into the southwest corner of Ohio, but it's creeping in slowly, taking its time. Which is fine—good things are worth the wait.
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6 comments:
The wonderful colors of the fall foliage is always worth the wait. Beauty at its best!
Reflections…
Autumn slips in some years—but that's just part of the fun. Like waiting for your turkey dinner to finish cooking on Thanksgiving.
Glad to see you here at Riverdaze and hope you visit often. You're always welcome.
Sugar maples are among the stars of autumn.
If you are getting some color, we should be about a week or so behind.
My husband and I are planning several day trips for autumn--I will make sure to do at least one blog on these trips.
I was up north last week to paint fall colours-they were peaked a no doubt this week dying down-I got my last swim in for the season.
KGMom…
Actually, I'd think you'd be a few days earlier in the cycle, since autumn colors progress from north to south, and your location is a bit north of mine. I'll bet outside the city limits, you have a few trees and leaves turned already. I'd guess your leaf-color peak might come around October 18-20, while here, I generally expect it to be the 20-22.
Sugar maples can turn anything from an eye-catching yellow to a deep orange—one of the prettiest tress around. My favorite maple, however, is the oft maligned swamp maple. Its brilliant deep-scarlet foliage can simply light up a hillside in a way no other tree quite manages.
AfromTo…
I'd love to be rambling the Lake Superior country right now. For me, there's no better place to be than the northcountry in the fall. I gotta tell you, though, I'd have to think about taking a swim!
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