Fall in the Piedmont of North Carolina

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.

 Mirror like reflection on a beautiful pond

 Pond on the golf course at the Carlson Dairy Farm course

Leaves that fell on my deck table from walnut, oak, maple and birch trees

 My back yard in the fall last year

 Katie's red maple near the Cardinal Golf course

Did I say red maple? Make that a red-orange maple 

Maybe red,orange and golden maple 

 Lake Higgins on a bright autumn day

Lake Hamilton where the geese never completely leave 

That's the furriest squirrel I've ever seen 

Old gas station site up in northern Guilford county 

View from my back deck in late October last year

View from the Cone Mansion on the Blueridge Parkway 

From the railing at the Cone Mansion in 2009

 From the trail to the Cone Mansion on the Blueridge Parkway

Yes, I love my North Carolina Fall, it's the best season of the year!