Happy Autumn (1)

(This morning’s view of the pond.)

It’s day one of my commitment to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors every day for a year.  The first full day of autumn here in the Bogs started out thick with fog.  The morning fog is one of the things I like best about this season.  It feels almost magical to go out and walk in the mists of Breezy Acres.

Sound has an odd quality to it when it has to move through the fog.  Sound is muffled and it can be difficult to tell where it is coming from.  This morning’s fog was filled with the call of birds, mostly crows cawing from the trees in the woods, but they often sounded as if they were surrounding the pond rather than at the back of it.  A chevron-shaped line of geese came by while I was out, honking out their traveling song.  Ted Andrews in his book Animal-Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great & Small lists the keynote for the goose as The Call of the Quest and Travels to Legendary Places.  And for those interested in crows, it is The Secret Magic of Creation is Calling.  Both seem to fit my new adventure quite well.  It is almost as if they were there to remind me of why I am doing this.

As the fog lifted it left behind a shimmer of dew drops covering everything.  My feet were soaked by the time I finished my walk around the pond.

They were also covered with grass.  M has been mowing the grass this week.  It’s the first time since the beginning of August, I think.  The grass hasn’t been growing much without the rain to help it along.

The spiders had obviously been busy overnight and in the early morning hours.  There were all kinds of webs spun all over the place.  Long lines of webs stretched from grass to trees and across the top of the paddle boat.

I found this butterfly waving its wings.  I’m not sure but I think it was trying to dry its wings.  I’m also not sure it is a butterfly.  I looked up the difference between moths and butterflies.  One of the differences is that a moth sits with its wings open whereas a butterfly sits with them closed behind its back.  The creature pictured above was slowly opening and closing its wings as it sat there so that particular hint was no help.  Another difference can be found on the antennae.  The butterfly’s antennae are club-like with a swollen tip.  The moth’s are feathery.

Another thing I enjoy about the fog is the softness it creates.  Everything has a kind of blur to it, spreading its color softly in the background the way the goldenrod is showing off its yellows in the photo above.  (Side note:  I’ve really been drawn to yellows lately.  I blame it on the goldenrod.)

Happy Autumn!

And to my friends in the southern hemisphere, Happy Spring!

It will not feel like autumn here today or tomorrow.  Our high temperature is expected to be in the 90’s with lots of humidity to go with that heat.  We may even break a record.

It’s too bad I can’t bottle some of it up to take with me on my walks when the temperatures dip below freezing in January.  I’d best enjoy it now while I can.