First Day of Autumn

Just last week, as I was driving the kids to school on a rainy morning much like today, I felt a sudden twinge of excitement as I realized the time for dead plants will be upon us soon. Yes, you read correctly, I'm excited about dead plants. As much as I love Spring and Summer and can't get enough of uncomfortably hot humid weather (you're probably thinking "Dead plants? Uncomfortably hot humid weather? This woman's a freak!"), I love equally the look of early November, when the sky is overcast, the ground a bit damp, and the foliage is a combination of stark dried plants and little green things holding on with their rugged little selves to the very end when the snow finally smothers them.

Today, on the first day of Autumn, I took the long way home from my chiropractor's office and drove the slow winding route through Rouge Park on Outer Drive. Ahhh, there it was: that wet mix of dead and living. Most of the trees and much of the grass are still very green, and many wild flowers continue to thrive as well, but there are dead grasses everywhere. It looks very dreamy, since from the road the dried plants look like a blur of grey, brown and even a delicate purple. I wish I had had a camera so I could post a photo.

I never used to think this way about the fall, especially late fall, since as a Michigander it marks the  beginning of a seemingly endless march of sunless days. It wasn't until I had a little beagle who waited eagerly by my bed every morning for his 6:30 a.m. walk that I changed my view. It was during this period, when I was forced to go outside at times of the year (and day!), that I began to realize there are a lot of beautiful things I used to miss in my tradition of hibernation! Look for them this fall: at the edge of the road, in the cracks of the sidewalk, in the un-bedded flower garden... there are so many places to see the beauty of Nature in both it's hardiness and it's death at this time of year.

HAPPY FALL EVERYBODY!