The magnificence of maples and oaks and birches with pines interspersed was dizzying. Ancient rocks pushing through the ground, reminders of ice age glaciers cutting through the vast valleys and hills of Northern Wisconsin, were powerful in the early morning sun. As I drove the interstate toward home, I felt as if I had been dropped into a bowl of candy corn.
I love Autumn so much. I can’t seem to let it go. Not yet. I want to see it and hold it in my view for as long as possible, a Midwesterner’s reward for the brutally hot, dry summer we had and memories to keep close when the long winter settles in. Do you ever feel like holding on to a season for as long as you can?
I stopped at a rest area near Black River Falls and walked around a bit, stretching my legs after hours driving. In the thirteen years I’ve made this drive, I’ve never stopped at this wayside. I walked about and I wondered why, grateful to find something new on a familiar path. The view was picturesque and I learned that one of Wisconsin’s major crops is peat moss grown in the area. Who knew?
I stopped at the apple orchard I mentioned a few blogs past, happy to know it was still selling apples this late into October, and that it was open so early in the day. I hauled a half bushel of Cortlands, a red cabbage, and butternut squash into the car, deciding to gaw rather than gee as I drove out the drive. My reward was such a pleasant country road, with gentle turns and swaths of sun brushing across the farmland.
Oh, the russet colored wonders of corn stalks drying under such a blue sky with the colors of Autumn for company.
Pulling to the side of the lane to take pictures, I could hear the gurgling sound of Sandhill Cranes, so high I couldn’t see them migrating south, reminding me to continue my journey home.
Lovely Autumn — I hope you have a few more weeks of it. Detours are part of the fun of roadtrips!
Seems like it’s just started here (it was a long dry summer)….there isn’t even too much color yet because of the dry.
LikeLike
Me too! Those detours are the best parts sometimes, aren’t they? I know you’ve taken your share of them, Sallie.
I am actually surprised at the color we are getting as we had such a dry, hot sumer as well with draught conditions. The colors we are getting is a welcome surprise. I hope you have some of it soon, Sallie.
LikeLike
Dear Penny,
Like you, I love autumn and I wish it would last for at least three months like summer or winter. I am always amazed at the beautiful colors of the fall even thouhg I grew up in Hawaii where color was ever present. Midwest fall colors are soft as though an artist painted each individual leaf where as in the tropics the colors are vivid and bold.Thanks for sharing, especially the beautiful pictures.
Marilyn
LikeLike
Wouldn’t it be grand if Autumn lasted that long? Maybe it doesn’t so we can appreciate it more. You have described the Midwest’s fall palette perfectly, Marilyn. Thank you – and you are most welcome.
LikeLike
Lovely photos. I have taken some on my walks around the fields. I, like you, can’t seem to get enough. Everything is so beautiful and then suddenly one windy, rainy day it will be all over. Your photos are lovely.
LikeLike
Thanks, Janet. I envy you your fields of Autumn gold and browns. There is nothing quite like the prairie as it slowly falls asleep, is there? We had some winds and the ground is now covered in leaves, but, still some hangers on.
LikeLike
How gorgeous. I think if I had sights even close to the colors and variety you show I’d be more enthusiastic about fall, too. I love the link to the Sandhill Crane and listened to its interesting call. I’ve never even heard of that particular crane. But I was delighted to see an ad on the link you provided and in Lodi, California there is a Sandhill Crane festival in a couple of weeks. Lodi is a good distance from us and I can’t imagine us going in two weeks, but I wouldn’t rule it out! According to what I just read the Sandhill Crane migrates through that delta area. I’m so glad you shared about it. I sense another field trip coming on! Enjoy a lovely fall day, Penny. Debra
LikeLike
Let me know if you get to the Sandhill Crane Festival, Debra. They are majestic birds and quite large when seen on the ground. We happened upon a pair doing their mating dance once in Door County. It was a sight to behold. You actually may have them migrating overhead and just can’t see them for how high up they are, which is what we have here.
LikeLike
I thought I’d share this link with you, Penny. I am sure we can’t organize well enough to do this in November, but I’m going to make a point of trying to go next year. I would just love this. Look at these tours! 🙂 I’m so glad you started this. Ha! http://www.cranefestival.com/tours.php Debra
LikeLike
Thanks for the link, Debra. I would love any of those tours and lectures (and art show). There is a picture of the cranes dancing, which is what we saw as noted in my comment above. It could be fun for you to do this next year with some other activity, of which there are many in the area, I’m sure. Isn’t this fun?
LikeLike
Dear Penny, your posting reminded me of all I cherish in my memories of autumn in Minnesota. I, too, have driven through Wisconsin in October and all you have described so well pulls me back in my mind to my northern sojourn of thirty-eight years.
Here in Missouri the trees are beginning to turn and a tinge of red amidst the green has now appeared I await more color but I’m not sure it will come because of the year-old drought that’s camped around this state. Yesterday we did get a good rain, but we are 12 inches behind for this year alone. In times like these I find myself so admiring and appreciating the fortitude and perseverance of farmers. Peace.
LikeLike
Dee, the maple leaves are especially for you. I realize you would have enjoyed a trip to MN that wasn’t in the cards, as they say, this year. It was a beautiful drive both up and back. I wish I could bottle it up and send it to you.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the good color we have been experiencing as we had drought as well this summer. I hope you have some there.
LikeLike
Dear Penny, thank you for the flaming maple leaves! A friend is here from Fridley, Minnesota. (That’s a suburb of the Twin Cities.) She flew in yesterday and will return home on Sunday. It’s so wonderful to have her here and to talk far and wee into the night and of subjects hither and yon. Peace.
LikeLike
Enjoy your time catching up, Dee. Isn’t it wonderful to have such friends that we can wile away the hours with?
LikeLike
Oh lovely, Penny. You really capture the glory that is autumn in this post – colour, fruitfulness and that sense of transition between the two extremes of heat and cold. I love all the seasons and this autumn is extremely colourful in the UK (perhaps because of all the rain?).
LikeLike
Thank you, Perpetua. As I mentioned above, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by all the color this year as we had such heat and drought this summer. I wonder if the rain has been your benefactor. Enjoy it while it lasts.
LikeLike
A lovely ode to autumn and the wonders of back roads. I too have had the pleasure recently of traveling a few country roads through farmlands and around small town squares and have loved every minute. For a urbanite such as myself, it is refreshing to see that there are actually small farms left in America. The sight of a grey weathered barn, a pasture full of black and white cows, or a roadside stand selling pumpkins and mums sets my spirits soaring.
LikeLike
It is refreshing to see small farms still in existence, Belle. I’m a city girl who never tires of trees and nature and these little hidden gems just off of the main roads. I passed a few pumpkin patches. They always make me smile with their bright orange orbs. The orchard I stopped at was established in by the owner’s ancestors in 1875 and has the original cider press. As you say, it “sets my spirits soaring”. Have a good day.
LikeLike
What an amazing time of the year it is, Penny. Full of colour and abundance. If only I could shake the wistfulness. I would love it to be Summer all the year round.
LikeLike
It is Kate, and I do understand that wistful feeling. Today, most of the leaves are on the ground and we have days and days of work to do.
LikeLike
Penny, we stopped in North Georgia today and bought some apples, and I thought of you. Are the colors as vibrant up your way? They seem to be off this year in TN. It has been dry there as well, and I wondered if it made a difference for you.
LikeLike
Aw! They are still vibrant, which amazes me. We’ve had better color in other years, but this one is such a wondrous surprise after the drought and heat that it is still beautiful. Of course, there are now tons upon tons to rake up…
LikeLike
Penny, I share your love of autumn. Maybe the reason it is so precious, other than its extraordinary beauty, is how short it seems. This season is always the quickest. I want to savor each and every moment.
xo Sunday
LikeLike
I think you are right in this, Sunday. We have color for a short while, then the barren trees for so long. I’m with you and want to savor it all (along with the Traverso book on apples, which I just picked up from the library – oh my!).
LikeLike
Beautiful photos and descriptions of your journey home Penny! You seem to make the most of every situation. Writing about it probably helps, I know it helps me.
LikeLike
Thank you, Janet. Writing does help, especially in the smaller moments of life like a ride in the car, which, it seems, I do a great deal of. I enjoy very much your writing, especially about your cottage and adventures in Ireland. You take me to a place I long to be, knowing I may never make, and I truly, truly appreciate it all.
LikeLike