Monday Morning Coming Down

Terry arrived in Phoenix last Thursday and has survived her first few meetings as a regional director for the Embroiderers' Guild of America. I imagine these early meetings are primarily meet-and-greet-your-fellow-officers with lots of organizational business and how-to-run-a-chapter/region training type of meetings. Today she gets to be a participant in various classes and activities as the "real" convention starts.

******

Here at the Aerie things have been windy, chilly and otherwise quiet. We got a bit of rain as a front moved through on Saturday and that's when the temperatures dropped too. Sunday morning it was down to 32 degrees for the second time this fall and there was some frozen precip on the deck when I came down stairs. Won't call it a "killing" frost, however. There was more than enough air movement to prevent that from happening. You need still air when the temps are borderline to actually do damage to plants and we haven't had that since early last week. In fact, we seldom get really still air on the hillside. Even when the winds are calm, the sinking of cold air and the rising of warm air still produces some movement. (I've mentioned before that we are at 2100' on a hillside that goes from around 650' at Route 6 up to around 2400' on Mountain Ridge.)

Lots of trees have shed their leaves and the hillsides are taking on the drab grey/brown of winter. Nearly all of the ash, most of the oak and a preponderance of the maples have gone naked thanks to the combination of wind and rain. Aside from the hemlocks and firs, only the locusts and some of the poplars are still green. And the locusts are usually the last to leaf in the spring and the last to lose it in the fall--although they sorta cheat. As soon as a leaf turns color, it falls. None of this hanging around for company on the old locust bough, no siree! It's every leaf for itself. As for the poplars.... Some are a Thomas Kincaid yellow/orange--the kind that seems to glow--really striking when the light hits them just right--while others less than 20 yards away are still green but shedding individual leaves as they turn.

We're set for the winter, however, as the propane guy made a delivery on Thursday and there is firewood in the drying rack. Some of it need splitting, however.

I do need to get some more bird seed for my feathered friends. I've just 1-1/2 bags of sunflower seeds left of the dozen I bought last fall. I would have used them up too if not for the bears causing me to pull the feeders in early last spring. (They--the bears--haven't caught on to the fact that the feeders have been on the deck for almost a month now.)

I'll soon have to think about either raking leaves or using the lawn mower to mulch and bag. The latter is mush more likely as it will be easier on my back than all the twisting and turning raking involves. I'm trying to hold off until the last of the leaves fall, but that may not be possible. (Stubborn oaks!) I need to get it done but also need for things to dry out a bit before I can do it. The early week forecast isn't promising, however, with 40-60% chance of showers for a couple of days.

Plenty of color closer to home.

SO, Wednesday I drove to the other side of the county in search of fall colors. This morning I drove down the hill to go to physical therapy and realized that the color I missed out at the Grand Canyon was all around me. After therapy, I took out my iPhone and snapped some pictures along the last four miles on the way up the hill. We had just had a brief rain storm and the sun was trying to emerge from behind the clouds. As a result, some of the photos are a bit subdued. Still they are indicative of the blaze of color spread across the hillsides. (Click on any photo to enlarge.)

Later in the day, Terry and I took Ms. Kitteh to the vets. On the way home, we stopped at several other spots to take more shots. There was more sunlight and we tried to choose areas that were brightly lit. Still, the photos don't do the colors justice. (Click on any photo to enlarge.)

Fall Colors Have Arrived--maybe.Or, maybe they've come and gone.

I drove out to Leonard Harrison State Park on Wednesday to get a look at what the fall colors might be like along that section of the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. It was overcast and hazy so that caused some of the colors to be subdued but there were also vast swaths of green that were NOT caused by pine trees and many, many trees already defoliated. Was I too early or too late to catch the colors at their peak? I may have to return this weekend to see.

View to the north from overlook at Leonard Harrison SP.

View to the west from overlook at Leonard Harrison SP.

View to the south from overlook at Leonard Harrison SP.

I wasn't the only one out leaf peeping. The parking lot had several dozen cars including at least one from Ontario, Missouri (an RV), New York and New Jersey. There were lots of motorcyclists too. That's not too surprising as Route 6 appears to be a favorite path for bikers. Even the ride into the park on Route 660 is a pleasant experience--especially, I imagine on a bike. It's a meandering, rolling road that is just pleasant to travel on.

Tioga County Fall Colors

I went out this morning to check out the colors at the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon.

First I stopped down on Route 15 to pick up the Sunday papers and found some color that I wasn't expecting.

Into the blue gray skies.

Hot air balloons were to be a highlight of yesterday's 1890s Weekend celebration. Tethered rides were supposed to be available from the area of the park in downtown Mansfield, but it was pretty breezy all day so maybe they never got a chance to launch. Today there was no air movement, as you can tell from the flag in the lower left hand corner of the photo, and they were taking advantage of the total lack of any horizontal breeze as lifted off from the open area near the Tractor Supply store on Route 15 south of Mansfield. Where they were headed and where they would land I'll never know. They were still heading up, up and away as I turned to the west and the Canyon.

I became more and more disappointed as I headed west. It became obvious that my assumption of 85-90% color was totally in error. The amount of color on the hills decreased more and more as I continued west on Route 660 out of Wellsboro. By the time I got to Leonard Harris State Park and the east rim of the Grand Canyon, I could estimate only 20-25% of the trees sported colorful leaves. (Another 5% or so had lost whatever leaves they had. Perhaps these were ash trees infected by the ash borer?)

Looking west from Leonard Harris SP

Looking west from Leonard Harris SP

Looking South down the Canyon

Looking North up the Canyon

To say I was disappointed is an understatement. Still, there had to be more color than this, so I went searching.

First I stopped over at The Muck. This is an Audubon Society recognized IBA (Important Birding Area) and there were several wood ducks and mallards on the water complimenting the numerous red-winged blackbirds, cedar waxwings and smaller sparrows taking advantage of the amble food supply of rose hips, reed seeds and more.

Hillsides at The Muck

Pocket of color at The Muck

Some color was visible here, but still only about 50% or so. Maybe there would be more over at Hills Creek State Park.

Color at Hills Creek SP

Color at Hills Creek SP

The second shot above is of the sugar maples in the parking lot. It's from these trees (among others) that our favorite Park Ranger, Audrey, collects sap to boil down to maple syrup.

Okay, this was a little better. Still not the 85-90% I thought I would find, but not bad. I could, possibly, find more color over at Ives Run/Hammond Lake, but it was time to head back to the Aerie.

Close to home

Closer to home

View from the Aerie's Deck

Those last views are what I've been seeing this week as I go down to the store an/or for the mail. Is it any wonder I thought there was more color out there than there turned out to be?

Oh well, I guess the current levels of color only mean that it'll get better before they leaves fall. Not a bad excuse to go out taking pictures.

Morning Report, September 25, 2010

Just 60 degrees this morning and falling as the breeze (there's always a breeze at the Aerie!) comes out of the west northwest. Glad I put off doing the firewood stacking until today!

We're at about 80 to 90% color here in the Northern Tier of PA and the hills are vibrant in their shades of reds, golds, oranges, browns and purples. Should be lots of leaf peepers out on Route 6 today and tomorrow. Maybe I'll join them and see about getting a few nice photos over at the Grand Canyon. (That's Pine Creek Gorge for you folks not aware of the PA version.)

Beautiful autumn morning!

Time to go to work.

Aerie Report, October 11, 2009

Terry came home yesterday from her travels to Indianapolis and Pittsburgh for the SAGA and EGA conventions. She came home with a much emptier Jeep. Boxes of magazines and other stuff belonging to SAGA went with her and stayed in Indianapolis or was sold to convention participants.

She had a great time at both conventions and passed the presidential gavel to the next in line. She says the feeling of relief was palpable. Currently, she has no official position in any capacity in the Smocking Arts Guild of America, not so in the Embroiderers' Guild of America. She's been asked to become the president of one of the local chapters (Treasured Stitchery) in December and is another chapter's (Corning) representative to the mid-east region for which she will become secretary next April. And to think, one of her cabinet asked her in Indianapolis if, now that she is no longer national president, she would be bored!

On a side note, she reports the Jeep Compass was exceptionally comfortable and got around 28 mpg when it was carrying a load of magazines and scissors. Once those were gone, it improved to 30+ mpg.

******

It was just 39 degrees at the Aerie this morning when we got up. Terry says she saw frost in the valley when she went to church. There's not much of a breeze blowing and the sky is mostly clear. The weather quacks say we are in for a very cold night and the temperatures may even drop into the 20s by Monday morning.

******

We took a ride this afternoon out west of Wellsboro for lunch and then to PA's Grand Canyon at Leonard Harris SP for a little leaf peeping.

My Lord! The park was packed! I guess we should have expected it. After all, it's a three day weekend, the weather is great--if chilly, and the leave color is closing in on the absolute peak.

We managed to find a parking space for the Tundra and walked in to the observation area. There were tables selling maple products (fried dough, ice cream, syrup, etc.) and hot dogs and hamburgers (a Girl Scout fund raiser) set up on either side of the entry.

The Pine Creek Gorge (The Grand Canyon of PA) looking north
from the observation area at Leonard Harris SP

I was a little disappointed with the colors. Many trees down in the gorge had already lost their leaves in the winds and heavy rains last week and the pines and hemlocks are so abundant that there was an awful lot of green still present on the hills.

The view west from the observation area.

Perhaps I was disappointed because on the way over, we had seen some hills with much more color. Heck, those hills I can view from the Aerie's deck seem to have more color.

The view to the west from the Aerie's deck.

******

We got back to the Aerie around 3:30 PM and I tuned in the Giants vs Oakland football game--if you can call a 44-7 shellacking a game. Eli played less than one half and left having helped the G-men put 28 points on the board and to a 5-0 record. It's good to see he was able to play with the bad foot. But then again, it was Oakland.

I was also able to pick up the end of the Dallas vs KC game. It was 13-13 when I tuned in but then it was 20-13 Dallas with just 2:12 left. Then 20-20 with just seconds on the clock. In OT it went back and forth until some guy named Miles Austin made a catch on the sidelines and sprinted 60 yards for a Dallas TD. (Heck of a name for a WR playing for Dallas, BTW...Miles Austin.) Austin had 10 catches for 250 yards. Not a bad afternoon. But I was hoping the Chiefs could have pulled this one out.

Fall has officially arrived

The Autumnal Equinox has passed and Fall is officially here.

At the Aerie, the Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds have moved south. None have appeared at the feeders for the last few days so we pulled the sugar water feeders. The Gold Finches have shed their bright yellow plumage and are now a drab olive green. (Unlike the Philadelphia Eagles and, now that they're on the tube, the Washington Redskins. Must be a retro uniform thing this weekend.)

The trees are starting to show more and more color as the shorter days trigger the end of chlorophyll production and other colors begin to show through. There's a smattering of red and yellow out there on the hills. Even the pines are showing a bit of brown as some of the older needles are being shut off. Of course, the needles at the tips of the branches are still bright green and will continue to photosynthesize for much of the winter and for a year or two more before they are worn out.