Seeking Shelter

This guy decided to share my coat the other day as it started to rain. He refused to move, forcing me to find him a suitable shelter to survive the rain.

Lake Michigan Blue

There is no sound except the swish of the grass and the sound of the lake---sometimes a gentle whisper, more likely a loud demanding roar and everything else disappears.

Grabbing the Shore

Don't you love the reflections of fall colors in water? Like a double dose of beauty. Admiring the reflections on a rainy afternoon, I spotted this tree, whose roots were grabbing the shore in seeming desperation.  

The World is New Through a Child's Eyes

The child's wonder

At the old moon

Comes back nightly.

She points her finger

To the far silent yellow thing

Shining through the branches

Filtering on the leaves a golden sand,

Crying with her little tongue, “See the moon!”

And in her bed fading to sleep

With babblings of the moon on her little mouth.

Carl Sandburg---Child's Moon

Bundle of Burgundy

This time of year you can almost watch the leaves turn colors---gold, purple, red, burgundy...beautiful. 

Reflections

A dam provides a tiny reflection pool for fall colors on Potato Creek.

Rainy Autumn Day

Walking through an Indiana forest on a rainy autumn day is true magic. Happy birds were singing everywhere. The light was beautiful. The trail was mine alone, making me feel sorry for everyone who was afraid of a few raindrops.  

Magic Hour

Every day there comes a time right before the sun sinks below the horizon when the light turns gold. Whether you are in the forest or somewhere outside of it everything turns to magic.

Light meets Night

The days are getting noticeably shorter and yesterday's sunset was slipping into a cloud bank making the day go even faster.

There was a hole in heaven to offer us a spectacular view as the sun set.

Babbling

Recent rains have put the babble back in to Potato Creek. This is one of my favorite spots in Indiana; just to sit and listen to the water sing.

Painting with Many Colored Brooms

She sweeps with many-colored brooms,

And leaves the shreds behind;

Oh, housewife in the evening west,

Come back, and dust the pond!

You dropped a purple ravelling in,

You dropped an amber thread;

And now you ’ve littered all the East

With duds of emerald!

And still she plies her spotted brooms,

And still the aprons fly,

Till brooms fade softly into stars—

And then I come away.

Emily Dickinson from Part Two: Nature

Sheltering Baby

This mushroom was poking up out of the newly fallen leaf litter in the forest the other day. A closer look revealed a tiny baby growing in protection underneath its parent.

Fall Finery

The beginning of fall is spectacular in Indiana this year!

What it is---a Mystery

When I'm outdoors taking pictures I very rarely disturb what I'm photographing. I like to get in close enough to get the picture, yet not enough to disturb anything that may be resting. I rarely regret this policy, but this photo of an insect that I shot yesterday gave me some regret.

The insect could be a fly, but I'm bothered by that tail looking so much like a dragonfly and that body, and then notice the feathered antennae. Is it one insect or one sitting on top of another? If I would have disturbed it I would at least know if this picture was a composite or just a very funny looking insect. Off to BugGuide for some research...    

October Flames

Cool temperatures have provided October landscapes with leaves of red---the top of the trees look as if they've been set afire.  

Earth Magic

The earth speaks in magic, the magic of rainbows and waterfalls and frogs. It is the magic of interacting sunlight and air and water and soil creating a constantly shifting kaleidoscope of wondrous riches on our turning planet. In fact, for someone visiting earth for the first time, the real treasures here would all be free. The smell of a sunlit prairie, the taste of a cold cup of spring water, the crunch of trackless snow underfoot, these are some of the earth's supreme treasures.... 

From The Earth Speaks/Earth Magic by Steve Van Matre 

October Sunset

An October sunset seemingly reflects all those pumpkins ripening in the Indiana fields.  

An Added Bonus

I loved the center of this flower and got in close and received an insect bonus. This may be a flying wasp? I'm still searching for a definitive answer.  

Busy as a Bee

A bee's job seems to become more urgent when the end of September looms.