Saturday, October 10, 2009
PS to Red Light Green Light...
Goodness gracious... it actually snowed today! Yup the upper peninsula of Michigan got its first and i believe the earliest snowfall of the year. Oct 10th and a bit of a flurry and about 30 degrees. Of course it was short and didn't stay on the ground for long as melted away with the sunshine. Well i guess Fall came and went and we are in winter now???? I love winter too so i really don't care as i got my walk in the woods...just in time.
RED LIGHT GREEN LIGHT
Well I am officially still a kid when it comes to being in total awe of the Fall colors in the Midwest. It is as if God took his paint brush and did a lovely mosaic in the woods- yellow,orange, red, purple and every shade of green. So lovely! So amazing! Such a joy to behold! Dave and I went to upper Michigan for the peak of the color this weekend and wow.... what a feast for the eyes!!
We flew in over the vast peninsula of miles and miles of colorful trees. We got great photos of all this!! We also took a four hour/10 mile hike into the woods past numerous small lakes and rivers..it was beautiful! I must admit though that it was not the normal length hike for us as usually we hike about 2 hours...so "ouch" our feet were talking to us a bit after hiking all afternoon. I did find however that with every mile I hiked my breathing got better as it was a bit aerobic with the ups and downs as part of a x-c ski trail .So all in all we had a great work out too!
The colors were unbelievable! I do not think , for all the years of Fall hiking i have done , have i seen so many shades of color in one day. They went from multiple pastels to deep rich colors of red and even purple.Yellow has always been my favorite( not the usual red), as it just looks as though someone has turned on the lights in the woods. It is so very cheerful and bright!But you know it is not until the color is contrasted with the usual greens do you really see how pretty the bright colors really are.
We took oh so many photographs and of course I collected colored leaves. Now although i am
not a child... I still love doing this! When i was a little girl my mom and I would take the colored leaves we had collected from our Fall hikes and press them between pieces of wax paper and hang them in the windows at home to see the real leaf colors shine through. Then, when my girls were little I also did this with them to carry through on the family tradition I had learned from my mom. So today since my girls live many states away and it has been years since we did this together , I thought i would press some leaves for both of them and send them off in the mail. This way they can still capture the feel of the Fall season of the Midwest. Liz lives in Portland and she says they have mostly pines there so not much color and Katie who lives in Colorado lives close to the Rockies but is working so many hours she may miss out on this too( it actuallu snowed ther this past week with snow that covered the ground and about 17 degrees!!). I am also sending some leaves to my sponsored children overseas, including them in my Fall letters. It is hard to describe this beauty so i think if they see it themselves it will be more fun for them. Anyway it is a good excuse for enjoying a Fall family tradition. (After spending a few hours on this project today i did decide however using contact paper may make more sense as more durable and it would show more of the true leave colors and last alot longer...oh well for hindsight.)
Anyway we enjoyed a beautiful day in the woods even though drizzling a bit of rain, the canopy of the forest kept us relatively dry and the soft path helped our tired feet. It was a bit of heaven i believe! Just the peace and quiet was such a treat! You know I do my best praying out of doors when walking as i am finally quiet( those of you who know me can appreciate this...hehe). And with Dave a bit ahead or behind me,well there is always that lovely quiet in between us to fill with prayer. I think about my deceased dad and brother Dale as well, when in the woods. Dale and my dad knew alot about nature study and really LOVED a good walk in the woods. Dad could name so many trees and flowers and Dale would just breathe in every bit of beauty, peace and quiet the woods would offer. Thanks Dad and Dale for making me love a nice walk in the woods and all it has to offer. This too is a family tradition i guess.
We flew in over the vast peninsula of miles and miles of colorful trees. We got great photos of all this!! We also took a four hour/10 mile hike into the woods past numerous small lakes and rivers..it was beautiful! I must admit though that it was not the normal length hike for us as usually we hike about 2 hours...so "ouch" our feet were talking to us a bit after hiking all afternoon. I did find however that with every mile I hiked my breathing got better as it was a bit aerobic with the ups and downs as part of a x-c ski trail .So all in all we had a great work out too!
The colors were unbelievable! I do not think , for all the years of Fall hiking i have done , have i seen so many shades of color in one day. They went from multiple pastels to deep rich colors of red and even purple.Yellow has always been my favorite( not the usual red), as it just looks as though someone has turned on the lights in the woods. It is so very cheerful and bright!But you know it is not until the color is contrasted with the usual greens do you really see how pretty the bright colors really are.
We took oh so many photographs and of course I collected colored leaves. Now although i am
not a child... I still love doing this! When i was a little girl my mom and I would take the colored leaves we had collected from our Fall hikes and press them between pieces of wax paper and hang them in the windows at home to see the real leaf colors shine through. Then, when my girls were little I also did this with them to carry through on the family tradition I had learned from my mom. So today since my girls live many states away and it has been years since we did this together , I thought i would press some leaves for both of them and send them off in the mail. This way they can still capture the feel of the Fall season of the Midwest. Liz lives in Portland and she says they have mostly pines there so not much color and Katie who lives in Colorado lives close to the Rockies but is working so many hours she may miss out on this too( it actuallu snowed ther this past week with snow that covered the ground and about 17 degrees!!). I am also sending some leaves to my sponsored children overseas, including them in my Fall letters. It is hard to describe this beauty so i think if they see it themselves it will be more fun for them. Anyway it is a good excuse for enjoying a Fall family tradition. (After spending a few hours on this project today i did decide however using contact paper may make more sense as more durable and it would show more of the true leave colors and last alot longer...oh well for hindsight.)
Anyway we enjoyed a beautiful day in the woods even though drizzling a bit of rain, the canopy of the forest kept us relatively dry and the soft path helped our tired feet. It was a bit of heaven i believe! Just the peace and quiet was such a treat! You know I do my best praying out of doors when walking as i am finally quiet( those of you who know me can appreciate this...hehe). And with Dave a bit ahead or behind me,well there is always that lovely quiet in between us to fill with prayer. I think about my deceased dad and brother Dale as well, when in the woods. Dale and my dad knew alot about nature study and really LOVED a good walk in the woods. Dad could name so many trees and flowers and Dale would just breathe in every bit of beauty, peace and quiet the woods would offer. Thanks Dad and Dale for making me love a nice walk in the woods and all it has to offer. This too is a family tradition i guess.
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