THE REST OF THE SEASON

Early November. It amazes me how long this particular goldenrod beside the west fence has lasted. But I can tell that the leaves on the trees down in the woods are losing some of their green.

We've had some chilly weather. Last Sunday morning the temperature dropped down to just freezing for an hour or so, not enough to do much harm. The day before, we had a strong, cold breeze during the annual Senior Citizens and Veterans Appreciation Parade: http://musingsfromsawyerville.weebly.com/blog/senior-citizens-and-veterans-appreciation-parade
The holly bush at the NW corner of the front porch is showing some small white blooms.
I used to trim that bush into a round ball, but lately I have encouraged it to grow tall so that I can display its trunks.
The other holly bush, a different variety, already has red berries. It too I am encouraging to grow tall.

The white sasanqua up front is now in bloom with lots of buds yet to open.

You will note that the porch awnings look better: as part of the porch redemption project they got pressure-washed, and that helps.
November 6, and it looks like November. The gingko is definitely showing up more yellow against the greener trees down in the woods.
We've not had much rain, but downtown Sawyerville is definitely damp. This cool front will bring us chillier temperatures again.
The yard of my neighbor to the west is showing signs of changing seasons, and you can see that change as well across the highway in the middle picture.
November 7. Trees in the late afternoon sunlight.
The gingko continues its move from green to bright yellow:


Here we are on Sunday November 9:


And then, only 2 days later, definitely more yellow!
November 12. I've grabbed a few more shots of the gingko while I can. Some years the yellow leaves trickle down over a period of several days. Some years they all drop in a yellow rain lasting an hour or so. I think this year may turn out to be the fast yellow rain. The determining factor seems to be whether there is a freeze. This year we expect freeze: 36 by tomorrow morning, 27 Friday morning, and 26 Saturday. Early next week we may see mid 20s for a couple of nights.  So what with the cold weather coming plus ailing relatives, this may be the last of the gingko with the leaves on the tree.
Picture
Same tree, same day, but later. I've been to Greensboro to visit 2 cousins in the hospital there, picked up some necessaries for a collards/sweet potato/peanut butter soup, had chili at the Pie Lab, got my flu shot at a CVS drug store, and was home by 1 p.m. It has not gotten colder out, but it hasn't warmed up outside either. Cold weather is definitely on the way! Shortly I'll be curled up in my recliner in the living room watching a movie or some such. And I've got electric blankets on both my queen-sized beds! That will feel good tonight, no matter which bed I elect to use.
November 14. The day of falling yellow leaves. At 6:30, when I first went out to find the temperature the anticipated 26 degrees, there were no new yellow leaves on the ground. That began to change.
At 8 a.m. the leaves were raining down and a yellow carpet was beginning to appear. Still, there seemed to be more leaves on the tree than on the ground.
10 a.m.
The carpet is thicker now. I believe there are more yellow leaves on the ground than remaining on the tree.


A half hour later I peeked out the back backroom window to check on progress. The fall of leaves has stopped. But then the stiff breeze has died down. When it resumes, will the leaves begin to fall again? Or will I still have more yellow leaves on the tree tomorrow?



12:30. I've just taken Brother out for a walk. Brother is the golden retriever who is spending the  weekend with me while his pet person is off at a wedding in Atlanta. Stiff breeze blowing, and the leaves have started to rain down again.



I'd guess that at least three-quarters of the leaves are down now. Maybe more. The yellow carpet on the ground is thicker than before.
Saturday November 15.
3 p.m.

My handsome weekend houseguest, Brother, helped me survey the gingko situation.


Not much to survey on the tree, for most of the leaves are now on the ground. A good many falling leaves this morning after our second mid-20s in a row.



Brother stayed in the house while my sister, down for the day, and I went to Greensboro to visit a cousin in the hospital. We were joined by 2 other cousins for lunch at the Pie Lab (I had the fried green tomato panini (sinful but good) and pecan pie (ditto).



Brother is more interested by goings-on across the street in Sawyerville than he is in gingko leaves, fallen or otherwise, and he spent a good bit of time in the front yard viewing comings and goings of people and cars and the occasional dog.



And yes, I know that dog pictures are somewhat off topic, but do you think I care?

The red berries on the holly bush by the old no-longer-used chimney are becoming quite showy . . .

. . . and the nandina berries, so russet earlier in the fall, are turning on their red for Christmas
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By Monday, November 17, the gingo was almost totally bare. The gusts of wind that accompanied the new cold front and the 2 inches of rain brought the rest of them down. Oh, you could probably count a half dozen or so still lingering on the tree, and who knows why those managed to hand on a bit longer. Most years lately I have had the brilliant yellow tree for several weeks, but as I suspected, our hard freeze changed that.

I think we can now say farewell to the gingko, at least to its leaves, until spring when the cycle with start all over again.
November 21. Fall cleaning. Today I got rid of all the dead four-o'clocks, day lilies, tiger lilies, and cat briar and assorted other unwanted growth along this fence, inside and out. And then I mowed alongside the fence on both sides.  I cut off most of the four o'clocks at ground level, which I believe will leave tubers in the ground, and of course 100s of seeds had fallen as well. We'll see what next summer brings.
November 22. More fall cleaning. This time it is my wildflower patch. I whacked off all those dried-up goldenrod stalks and some privet that had grown among them and pulled some honeysuckle and clematis vines and then mowed over the whole thing. Next year, assuming my Black-Eyed Susans and goldenrod come back, I'll probably cut back on the latter to make more room for the former.
It is a sunny day, but with a sky more white than blue. When I finished the morning's outside chores it was above 60 outside, and tomorrow we expect 70 and thunderstorms, we hope not too violent. Once that is over, looks like a fairly sunny Thanksgiving week with highs in the mid-50s and lows in the mid-30s. Not bad at all.

Lots of signs of fall, including lots of gunshots on my neighbor's property to the west. Hunting deer, I assume.

I look forward to a quiet Thanksgiving Day at home by myself, but the next day will be the annual feast over at Heiberger, some 40 miles east and north of Sawyerville. Lots of Mays and Moores and residents of that community and always too much food, and as usual I anticipate eating much more than I should.

4.m. Same day. The crepe myrtles now have settled into their late fall and winter look. I happen to like that look very much, those long, bare spiky branches.

The white sky of earlier in the day has moved toward gray now. It is a day that exemplifies my feelings and thoughts about November.


I love November.
Sitting on the front-porch-in-progress I was moved to document the view, panning from left to right. west to east:
November 25. Moving along rapidly toward Thanksgiving and, I presume, the end of this season. Fall has never struck me as being particularly vivid right here in Sawyerville. Most of the trees locally tend to be muted in color this time of year. On my trip to Tuscaloosa and Birmingham yesterday I saw lots of vivid orange and purple and red and yellow leaves. Greensboro even has its share. Usually my gingko is the most vivid single tree in Sawyerville, but it didn't last long this year. Before that it was my big Bradford pear: that stump in the photo is what lasts of it. A car that had plowed into it and a couple of storms had so damaged it that finally it had to be taken down.

But the muted look has its attractions too, especially when there is a sky this blue and when lit by the morning sun just so, as you will see in these shots, particularly if you click to enlarge:

November 29. Saturday. A quite sunset Auburn plays Alabama in Tuscaloosa tonight. That too is a sign that fall is almost over. I'll watch it, of course. Thanksgiving Day: a quiet time at home. Friday: the feast at Heiberger.
December 2. The bridal wreath surrounding the oak tree down the hill east of the front porch  has turned a pleasant yellow-brown. Down in the woods the trees have lost many of their leaves. The old picnic table the goats used to love is covered with fallen leaves. Winter is on the way. Winter down here in west central Alabama looks like fall without as many leaves. We may get snow: some years we do, some years we don't. The nandina west of the front porch has definitely put on its Christmas outfit. I know that the true and formal arrival of winter is nearly 3 weeks away, but I think we can go ahead and close the chapter on Autumn and start thinking about the last season of this essay. Until then, stay warm and keep your feet dry!