Edging into autumn

Poison ivy: Pesky but pretty.

Iowa got serious about the transition into autumn last night with frost advisories midstate and freeze warnings in the far north. Down here, where the temperature before dawn stands at 37, everything should continue to bloom for another week or two.

It seemed mild when I went about for supper at 5:30, almost too chilly for short sleeves upon return --- a rapid shift.

And there should have been an extra blanket in reserve. The chill woke me up and I thought about getting up and finding one, then curled into a tighter ball and thought about it some more.

Yesterday afternoon in the woods and fields, poison ivy --- still poison but pretty --- was flaming in the trees and sumac had turned a brilliant red.

Sumac blooming bright red.

The black walnuts were behaving in their usual inconsistent way. This tree had dropped its leaves, but the nuts were hanging on. Elsewhere at Red Haw, where there are many walnuts, some trees were turning and dropping foliage, others still densely covered.

There's no way to predict what a walnut, usually among the last of the trees to leaf out and the first to shed foliage, will do --- other than make a mess. 

The tree here near the house is still holding onto both its leaves and its nuts.

I spent a few minutes chasing Monarchs before heading back into town, standing up to my neck in fall in full bloom --- not a bad way to end the day.