Autumn Leaves.

Crisp morning air, full of the scent of falling oak leaves…

Fall is finally here! My favorite season. Surprisingly, there is an abundance of color– in spite of the short summer we experienced this year. With an unseasonably cool August, many of our Maple trees dropped the majority of their leaves more than a month earlier than usual without changing color. Temperature, rainfall and a whole slew of other factors can affect the amount and timing of fall color and nature is putting on quite a show.

We’re pretty much at our color peak right now, here in Elgin. How long it will last, will again, depend on a number of factors– but might hang around a little longer than usual is we don’t experience any extreme weather changes.

To top off this autumn color display, we had a great viewing opportunity, October 8th, of a lunar eclipse. I’ve seen many over the years and this one was unique from my past viewing experiences; with the full eclipse occurring at 5:30 am, fading into the dawn.

Enjoy it while you can. The snow will be here before you know it!

Virginia Creeper turning crimson.

Autumn color at 321 Division Street.

Side Porch view.

Fall color surrounds our 120+ yr. old Ginkgo tree.

Blazing color of our Burning Bush after the rain.

Fall at 321 Division Street.

Lunar Eclipse, October 8th, 2014.

Lunar Eclipse Over Elgin, at dawn. October 8th, 2014.

Brilliant colors of Autumn.

My forest angle of the 321 Division Street

Autumn at 321 Division Street. 125 years old.