Starting to Look a Lot Like Autumn

I have such a love/hate relationship with fall. I love the colors. The rich reds and golds that lace their way through the fields are so striking, and of course the leaves are beautiful too. I love fall hiking - it's our time for being in the Adirondacks. The cool weather feels fresh and crisp, and once we get a frost, the mosquitoes will disappear.

But fall also means winter is coming. I am a summer girl - it's my season. I get cold starting in September and don't get warm again until June. As the humidity drops, my skin and eyes get drier and my contact lenses start to annoy the heck out of me. I start contemplating buying stock in a lotion company. I have to put on shoes and socks again, and I can't ever feel truly happy unless my feet are bare. Soon I will forget the blissful freedom of getting up in the morning and not being cold, or of stepping out doors with only a light summer dress on. Heavy coats, heavy boots, and being tense from the cold quickly drive away the memory of all that soul warming sunshine. While I can appreciate the other seasons, nothing compares with summer, and I'm feeling a little blue about the fact that it's ending for another year.

All I can do is focus on the good things about fall, I guess. On Saturday I went to a gathering at a friend's house outside of Cazenovia, and while I was driving I had to stop and take some pictures of the late summer fields. Goldenrod makes me sneeze, but it is absolutely lovely stuff. I thought I'd share a few starting-to-look-like-autumn pictures:

I didn't think this was my best shot, but when I got home I was pleasantly surprised I had captured a butterfly in the top left that I hadn't even noticed at the time.