Moving deeper into fall

It feels as though we've moved into "real" fall---where the leaves have mostly come down, and nature is moving into the phase of shutting down for winter. The temperature stays mainly in the forties during the day, and into the thirties at night. Surprisingly enough, the flowers in my window box are still thriving. In fact, they have looked their very best in the last month versus the whole summer! It must be the right amount of warmth that they receive from being so close to the building.

We had our first snow last week, about an inch or so that stayed around for more than a day in places. At the same time, the Twin Cities was having a warm day of seventy-some degrees. It is amazing to me that the three-hundred mile distance can make such a difference in weather.

As we took a drive recently to drop off our recyclables, I was noticing all the different shades of gold on the trees. When ever we go to buy light fixtures, we always have to decide between shiny brass, antique gold, brushed nickel, etc. I thought about that as I looked at the trees, and sure enough, there is a difference in the types of "gold" that the leaves were showing. Some of them were bright, like I imagine the aspen trees in Aspen, Colorado to be. Others had more of a coppery color to them. And the tamaracks looked like they were flourescent.

We have been seeing more deer in recent weeks. In years past, the deer would only be around Gunflint Lake in the winter time, when Grandma Peggy would feed them. One year, the DNR radio-collared some of them, to learn where they went for the summer. Most of them travelled just to the east, towards North and South Lakes, where there were more meadows. By November, they were back again, waiting for Peggy's corn. Now we spot them more often, and not just on Gunflint Lake. The range that they cover has increased, and they must be finding more food to sustain them year-round. We no longer feed the deer here, as we found that they also ate all of the little trees that Greg had planted through the years. They still pass through, as we see their tracks.

I just glanced out at the garbage shed, as I was thinking about my bear of last month. He hasn't been back, so I think that I definitely won that round. Soon he will be sleeping away the days of snow. A fox was just enjoying himself at our compost pile. He has been around a little more this fall, even continuing to eat while we are outside. This time of the year, his coloring really helps him to blend in.