Finding Fall!

  I fully enjoy looking at photographs of the lovely colors of fall.  I admire the bright colors of the leaves, frost covering hayfields and even the dried grasses.  I do enjoy the photographs.  That is about the only way I can view these things.  (Frost makes an appearance in winter but not fall.)  Here it is a rare occurrence to find bright red, orange and yellow leaves.  Popcorn trees or maples try their best and the Black Gums do occasionally pop a few red leaves just for show but most trees never even attempt the feat.  We have to be satisfied with whatever few colors we get.

  Today, however, I found fall!  While most folks are well on their way to winter, I found the Deep South's version of fall leaves.  I took Ms. Ez and her hurt foot out for a leisurely stroll about the hillside.  The old dog is getting stiff from being lazy so I figured a walk would do her good.  We wandered down along the marsh edge and then to the wild persimmon tree.  I ALWAYS have to meander past this tree!  As I grabbed a dozen or so of the little orange blobs, a bit of yellow caught my eye!  FALL LEAVES!  Yep, the young persimmon saplings that I have been saving, presented me with a lovely show!  Sure, it is only yellow but at least they are pretty! From where I stood, the six or seven young trees were framed by two oak trees.  The path to the trees looked so inviting that Ms. Ez and I immediately decided to change course and head that way.  What a peaceful little nook this was!  These particular trees, although only about a hundred feet from the house, were completely blocked from view.  I would have never seen them had it not been for my hankering for the tasty persimmons.

  According to the weather reports, we are going to jump right into winter here in a few weeks.  The Bayou is to be on the tail end of a cold front that is going to sweep down from our neighbors to the north.  I will be spending the rest of this week and the first part of next preparing the garden and greenhouse for the cold snap.  A stockpile of firewood is ready with more on the way.  It should be interesting to have cooler nights this early in the year.  Ponder..ponder...could those persimmon seeds be right?  Are their weather predictions holding true for a cold, wet (aka snowy) winter?  Regardless, I did get a sighting of fall thanks to the persimmon trees!