The blog title is Nature of Oakes: where I plan to write about Nature — Nature meaning outdoors, the natural world around us, but sometimes I may also write about human nature — or my own nature. To get started:
Autumn has finally arrived — it was late getting here this year. What I noticed today were the squirrels — twice this morning, I saw two almost get run over as I was driving out of my neighborhood. Why are they in such a hurry? — The acorns fell weeks ago — I guess they’re still finding some. Maybe they’re hidden under the leaves — though not that many leaves have fallen yet: most have just started turning. Right now the most noticeable color is yellow – maples (though some are bright vermilion) and the pagoda dogwoods (though the dogwoods started out as pale salmon pink, and then turned yellow). The sandbar willows I passed along a stream are yellow, too.
What I find most striking about the yellow autumn leaves is how they seem to make the daylight last longer. Their colors are so bright that they glow through the windows in the evening, almost as if there is extra light outside. Tuesday night there was a beautiful sunset: all red-orange streaks of cloud, streaming up out of the west. The bright orange behind the yellow leaves seemed to lengthen the day by several minutes — and I rejoiced in it.
