Autumn in Wisconsin

On a sunny day in October about the best thing in the world to do is take a ride through the countryside.  After about three years of WET and WINDY autumns this has been the return of colorful autumn I’ve been waiting for.

This fall color season is going to be relatively short.  Not as short as when we have a lot of wind and rain to knock the leaves off the trees, but a lot of trees are past prime already and the colors are rapidly spreading southward.  Still, just a glimpse of this awesome coloration is enough to make your heart glad and put a smile on your face.

You can tell me all the scientific details about why Nature is so glorious but my simple mind is quite happy thanking God for creating such a fantastic world to live in.  There is a great lot that I don’t understand, my timeframe is quite limited, but at this time of year it’s hard for me to believe that anyone who can both see  the progression of colors and who can appreciate what they are seeing doesn’t believe in God — because the idea that we an conceive and appreciate the beauty (in my mind) is not something that ends up in your brain purely by the process of evolution.  That we are able to think beyond ourselves seems a pretty significant trait.

It’s common for us to revisit particularly lovely places from our past life, so that was what we did.  A couple day drives to places that have been special for us.  Not an “exciting” way to spend a day or two but certainly a rewarding one.

As we were driving around I realized one thing that’s changed.  In previous years I’d develop this urge to see the colors but what I was really thinking in my head was how nice it would be to have my cameras along to capture the views.  This year, I realize, that I have stopped thinking about capturing things.  It’s hard to remember a time when cameras weren’t a big part of my life, from a little child on, but something in my has changed and it’s worthy a note, but not a regret.  Life changes us.  That is to be expected.