I couldn’t believe my eyes

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The sun was shining in a brilliant blue sky…October at its finest! I couldn’t believe my eyes! If you know me at all, you will know that I quickly packed up my camera and headed to the Arboretum for a photoshoot. A morning like this is an unexpected gift…not to be spent indoors. I started down the trail as usual to see if there were any leaves remaining on the sugar maple tree, which had already reached its prime when I was here two days ago. On that rainy Saturday morning under grey skies, the maple looked like this…

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Unfortunately, since my Saturday morning visit, rainy, windy weather had rolled in and spent the weekend. And as you can see in the picture at the top of this post, the gorgeous maple had passed its prime in those few days. This morning only a few lonely leaves were left, clinging to the branches.

Nevertheless, this was a glorious morning, so after taking the picture above, I set off down the trail, anticipating more Autumn color to come around the next curve in the trail. Just to whet your appetite for an Autumn trail walk, here is a mosaic of a few more pictures I took this morning. I promise you there will be more spectacular sights like these trees, but it’s too late to post them tonight.

But I’ll be back in a day or two to share more Autumn joy!

See you soon!
Trail Walker

October 28, 2019 4

Almost Autumn

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Today’s temperature hovered around 90 degrees as I headed out for a trail walk in Holden Arboretum. Although most of the trees along the trail are still green, a few, like the beauty above, are definitely announcing the arrival of Autumn. Am I looking forward to cooler temperatures? You bet I am! Hands down, Autumn is my favorite season, and I’m anticipating some colorful trail walks during October…and into November.

Here are the first pictures for my Autumn album:

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And finally, one of my favorite trees: the sugar maple. Every year, I photograph the transition of this magnificent tree from summer into autumn and eventually winter. Here’s the first picture, still dressed in green garb, but preparing for the dramatic change coming in the months ahead.

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That’s it for week one of this year’s Autumn Album. If you are a trail walker who loves Autumn, come back next week when I will share more Autumn images.

See you soon!
Trail Walker

October 1, 2019 3

Autumn isn’t over yet…

…as promised in my last post!

Late afternoon, and I had the Arboretum trails almost entirely to myself. One or two dogs were out for an afternoon stroll with their human companions, and I came upon one family group, but with no one to engage in conversation, I enjoyed a quiet stroll around Lotus Pond, down the hill to Blueberry pond (Pictured above), and back to the car park before dark. Come along and enjoy the beauty with me.

2018_11_11__Holden Arboretum_0014 — Golden sweet gum tree

Of course, for me a trail walk at the Arboretum is not complete unless I make the circle around Lotus Pond to enjoy the many sides of the Golden Willow Tree.

Today, because I had a little time left before the sun sank below the horizon, I decided to follow the trail from Lotus Pond to Blueberry Pond. I hadn’t walked that way in a while and checking it out in near-dusk on this late Autumn afternoon was a delightful experience. The clump of birch trees to the left of the trail and the bench at the top of today’s blog post caught my eye, and I paused to capture a colorful photo of the shoreline of Blueberry Pond.

2018_11_11__Holden Arboretum_0038 — Blueberry Pond

2018_11_11__Holden Arboretum_0024 — Birch trees

From Blueberry Pond, I climbed the hill, returning to the visitor’s center where I found my car, sitting nearly solitary in the parking lot. Chilled, but happy with the images I had collected, I stowed my camera pack in the back seat, started the car, turned on the heater, and headed home.

Thanks for joining me for today’s trail walk.
See you soon!
Trail Walker

November 18, 2018 8

Color Me Autumn!

Earlier this week, I lifted my eyes from the keyboard and glanced out the window next to my computer. It was already late afternoon on what had started out as a gloomy overcast day. To my delight, outside my window the sun was shining! I immediately went into action. Leaping out of my chair and grabbing my camera, I invited Bob to leave his desk and head to Holden Arboretum with me for an impromptu trail walk.

Two weeks earlier, I had visited the Arboretum, hoping to find the sugar maple tree crowned in glorious autumn color…not an unreasonable expectation in the middle of October. Normally we would have nearly reached peak color here on the south shore of Lake Erie by that time, but that afternoon, to my disappointment, the tree still looked much like it had in mid-summer: beautiful, but almost entirely green.

2018_10_16__Holden Arboretum_0001 — Sugar maple on October 16, 2018

Today, with the late afternoon sun shining and puffy white clouds in a beautiful blue sky, I almost held my breath as I hurried down the trail to where I could catch sight of the tree. My expectations weren’t high because the end of October is well past the time for peak color in northeast Ohio, and in a normal year, the maple would have lost most of its color and many of its leaves by the first of November (the day I am writing this post).

Then I rounded the curve in the trail and saw the maple.
My heart burst with joy.
I hadn’t missed its peak color after all!

2018_10_29__untitled shoot_0064 — Sugar maple on October 29, 2018

2018_10_29__untitled shoot_0083 — October 29-Another view of the sugar maple

Three more for today from my Color Me Autumn trail walks (Click to enlarge pictures)

Autumn red near Lotus Pond

View from under the sugar maple

Autumn landscape

Thanks for joining me on the trail today.
I’ll be back soon to share more Autumn joy.

Trail Walker

November 1, 2018 11

Autumn in the Arboretum

It was a perfect day for a trail walk, so I headed to Holden Arboretum because the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and I hoped to find some photos to add to my “Color Me Autumn” collection. Parking my car, I hurried down the trail to the sugar maple tree, which by this time should be showing beautiful color. One glance at the tree, pictured above, told me that Autumn wasn’t making much progress. At least not yet! If I were to give it a grade, based on the colors I could see, I would probably give it a D+ (I’m a tough grader and, based on recent Octobers, my expectations are high). Frosty nights (but not too frosty) and bright, sunshiny days are the necessary conditions to create the colors that make Autumn my favorite season. Walking all around the tree to view it from all angles, I realized, to my disappointment, that it was still mostly green. It’s a beautiful tree, but green isn’t what I was expecting to see the second week in October. Sigh! Oh well, I’ll just go back to the Arboretum next week and update my Autumn color report. Meanwhile, here are a few more pictures from week two. Although I’m giving today’s trail walk a low grade for “fall color,” it still earns high marks for overall beauty.

2018_10_16__Holden Arboretum_0048 — Golden willow tree

2018_10_16__Holden Arboretum_0047 — Golden willow tree

2018_10_16__Holden Arboretum_0024 — Finally: a fall colored tree!

2018_10_16__Holden Arboretum_0020 — Gazebo in the rhododendron garden

2018_10_16__Holden Arboretum_0016 — Fisherman’s blind

2018_10_16__Holden Arboretum_0005 — Unusual color for Autumn

That’s all for this week, trail walking friends.
See you next week!
Trail Walker

October 22, 2018 9

Color Me Autumn (week one)

2018_10_03__Holden- Early October trail walk_0050 — Color Me Autumn!

Suddenly, it is beginning to look like Autumn. Time to break out my “Color Me Autumn” tag and get out for some Autumn trail walks…My favorite season!

As soon as my dentist appointment ended this morning (Perfect report from the hygienist), I headed for the Arboretum. I don’t have time to write more tonight, but here are a few pictures from today’s trail walk to show that Autumn colors are beginning to appear despite the predominately green leaves.

2018_10_03__Holden- Early October trail walk_0047 — The birch tree leaves are changing color.

2018_10_03__Holden- Early October trail walk_0043 — Another look at the birch trees

2018_10_03__Holden- Early October trail walk_0042 — The evergreen is still green, but the ground beneath it looks like Autumn.

2018_10_03__Holden- Early October trail walk_0038 — Trees in Blueberry Pond

2018_10_03__Holden- Early October trail walk_0036 — Berries

2018_10_03__Holden- Early October trail walk_0028 — Happy Halloween

2018_10_03__Holden- Early October trail walk_0051 — My favorite tree-the golden willow

The leaves on the golden willow tree will eventually turn yellow, but the transition is slow. Look around the tree, however, and you will see more Autumn colors.

2018_10_03__Holden- Early October trail walk_0064 — Although the sugar maple is still mostly green, I can tell Autumn is here.

Are you seeing Autumn in your neighborhood or are you saying goodbye to winter? Whichever season you are leaving (or entering), as you walk along the trail with your camera, you are sure to find something beautiful to photograph. Go on out and enjoy it whenever you can. That’s what I’m planning to do.

See you soon
Trail Walker.

October 3, 2018 11

Holden Arboretum in June

The end of the first week in June seemed to me like a perfect time for a visit to Holden Arboretum. My friends Lisa and Lorna agreed to join me, so we set a date and began looking forward to our semi-annual trail walk at Holden.

The morning arrived with unseasonably cool temperatures and the threat of rain, but we weren’t deterred. Meeting at the Visitors’ Center, we meandered along the trail past Lotus Pond. If the golden willow, pictured below, looks familiar, you probably remember that it is one of my favorite trees along the trail, one I can’t pass by without stopping to take a picture, or two or three.

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2018_06_05__Holden Arboretum_0036 Reaching the entrance to the rhododendron garden, we paused long enough to soak in the beauty of the landscape, and to take a quick picture of a black squirrel sitting in front of a tall rhododendron. Black squirrels are a bit of an anomaly, and they have an interesting history. In 2011 Kent State University (in nearby Kent Ohio) celebrated 50 years since the first black squirrels, transported from Canada, were released on their campus. In that 50 years the squirrels have become something of an icon on the northeast Ohio campus (If interested, you can read more about the furry rodents here).

On down the trail, we continued through the rhododendron garden to Hourglass Pond where we stopped to enjoy the view from a bench our friend Margaret has dedicated to the memory of her husband Don. We also took a close look at the cypress trees with their strange “knees” that grow on the edge of the pond. If you’ve never encountered cypress knees, you can see the strange protruding roots in the pictures below. Cypress trees favor a very moist environment, and that’s where we saw these knees. Look at the base of the trees, and you will see them too.
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At this point, we agreed it was almost time for lunch, so I took one more picture of Hourglass Pond before we turned back to the visitors’ center, following the round-about trail along the perimeter of Corning Lake, snapping pictures as we went.

2018_06_05__Holden Arboretum_0103 — Hourglass Pond

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To top off the afternoon, we enjoyed our bag lunches on the back patio of the visitors’ center. It definitely hadn’t been the sunny day in June we expected when we made our plans to meet at the Arboretum, but Holden never disappoints, and it certainly didn’t this time.

Thanks for joining us for our trail walk.
See you soon.
Trail Walker

June 10, 2018 9

To labor or not to labor?

Friday was the beginning of Labor Day weekend. After cleaning the house all morning, I decided I had labored long enough, so I thought I would put in some time at my computer, making a dent in my really neglected blog. However, before I even got started, a phone call came from my daughter Becky, asking is I would be interested in taking a trail walk at the Arboretum with her and her dog Darby. My mind was made up pretty quickly and off we went to the arboretum where we did more walking and talking than picture-taking. Nevertheless, here are a few of the pictures we captured along the trail that afternoon, mostly snapped around Lotus Pond and the edge of Corning Lake. If you have joined me any trail walks in the past, you are sure to recognize the Golden Willow Tree at Lotus Pond, seen here from several angles:

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There is something special, almost magical about that tree. It draws people, myself included, to it, and I can’t resist the photo opps. However, there are other interesting sights to see along the trail in the Arboretum. Here are a few more pictures I captured before the end of the afternoon.

2017_09_01_Summer 2017_Holden Arboretum_0002 — The Overlook-An entrance to the rhododendron garden.

2017_09_01_Summer 2017_Holden Arboretum_0003 — In the rhododendron garden

2017_09_01_Summer 2017_Holden Arboretum_0008 — Darby, my daughter’s dog

2017_09_01_Summer 2017_Holden Arboretum_0013 — Darby sitting beside me

2017_09_01_Summer 2017_Holden Arboretum_0023 — A tiny frog I almost didn’t see when I walked past Lotus Pond

The rest of Labor Day weekend was peaceful except for a loud storm in the middle of Saturday night…so loud it woke both of us up. I thought Sunday would be cooler as a result, but unfortunately, when we took a walk at Lake Erie Bluffs on Sunday afternoon, it was still hot and muggy. Happily, visitors at the Bluffs were able to enjoy playing in the water and hiking along the beach.

2017_09_04_Summer 2017_Labor Day 2017_0027 — The beach at Lake Erie Bluffs

2017_09_04_Summer 2017_Labor Day 2017_0024 — A lot of driftwood and a few swimmers

2017_09_04_Summer 2017_Labor Day 2017_0002 — View from the tower on the Bluffs

That sums up our Labor Day weekend. We relaxed as much as possible, labored only a little, and were blessed with plenty of sunshine, only one storm, no flooding, and a lot of reasons to be thankful!

Thanks for stopping by today.
I appreciate your visit to my blog.
Trail Walker

September 6, 2017 7

August in the Butterfly Garden

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After time spent walking the trails at Holden with my friend Lisa, I captured some pictures in the Butterfly Garden before heading home. Strangely enough I didn’t see many butterflies. I was hoping some monarchs would pose for my camera, but didn’t see a single one. However, it was a beautiful day, and I captured some pictures that made me happy.