Gate City Gazette: October 2012

I love autumn in the piedmont region of North Carolina. I spent my early years in west Texas where cactus and yucca plants are surrounded by fifteen foot tall mesquite trees. In the fall, the skinny leaves of the mesquite turn yellow and drop uncermoniously to the ground. The grass turned from green to brown after about thirty minutes in the blazing summer sun. My next years were in north central Texas where scrub oaks grew to a scant 15-20 feet high. They turned quickly from green to brown before defoliating.

I have spent the past twenty-one years in the piedmont region of North Carolina and I look forward to each new fall season. Decidious hardwoods growing in the forest here grow to 50-70 feet tall. Indiginous species include red and golden maples, white oaks, red oaks, blackjack oaks, walnuts, sweet gums, tulip poplars, ironwood and many other varieties. They explode in a wondrous blaze of gold, orange and red that warm the heart as the cooler season starts.

Here are a few images of this colorful spectacle that I await with great anticipation each year. The leaves have only just begun to change this year, so I will post a curent season gallery at the end of the month.