Fall Comes To the Mid-Atlantic Piedmont

Mid October is peak time for fall color in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, but I'm located in the piedmont about 29 miles east of Charlottesville, so we are a week or two behind the colors on the mountain ridges. Still, depending on the type of tree, we are beginning to get some pretty good colors. Maples, Gum, Dogwoods , and various small weak woods seem to give the best reds and oranges right now. Other trees remain green, or are becoming golden, or simply (and sadly) just fading from green to brown. I will keep my eyes out for better color, and try to capture it for you. If luck has it, I may even make a trip up to the mountains. No promises there, just a chance.

I love you all so very much, and I promised to post some pictures for you. I had some difficulty at first, but thanks to my very dear friend Caroline, I am now able to do just that! Please bear in mind, that I am a rank amateur when it comes to photography. I have a lot to learn about capturing images, and I welcome any criticisms, or advice any of you can give me to improve picture color and clarity. The photo above is view of the cul-de-sac on the road out front. The roads in this subdivison are not maintained by the county, therefore they are only gravel. If you click on each individual photo, you should be able to get a larger image, that you can size up or down. And now, for your enjoyment:

This is a shot of a dogwood in my back yard. A couple of weeks ago, it had beautiful red berries on it. I guess the birds ate them. It blooms early in the spring with lovely white flowers.
Here is another shot of it, off my rear deck.
This is a view from my driveway, out to the road in front of the house.
Here is a view from the inside end of my driveway, looking into the back yard.
This is a view of the top of a gum tree, in front of the house. It is usually much redder in the fall. Maybe the red is yet to come.
Another view of the gum tree out front.
I-64 heading into Richmond.
I-64 heading into Richmond.
I-64 heading into Richmond.
I-64 heading into Richmond.
Entering Richmond's north side.
A shot down Laburnam Avenue in north Richmond.
A maple tree in front of a Baptist church, on Confederate Avenue in Richmond's Ginter Park, in Richmond's north side.
The same maple tree from another angle.
The path down to the pond from my back yard.

This is the path that I would skip down to grandmother's house, if I only had a red hooded cape, and a wicker basket.
The path emerging onto the pond.
Tree tops.
A view across the back end of the pond.
Another view across the back end of the pond.
A view from my rear deck. The driveway is just to the right, around the corner of the house.

A view off my rear deck. No, I don't have a dog. The dog house was an outdoor shelter I purchased and stuffed with soft bedding for a cat I used to have. He went inside of it once, for about two seconds. When he realized it was dog house, he walked out, and shunned it for the rest of his life. It is now a shelter for wasps and hornets.

A view into the woods, behind my house. The red tree in the middle is a dogwood.
The Wolf's Lair: This is the silken tunnel of the wolf spider, I wrote about a few blogs ago. She has since abandoned it, but she left a cocoon of silk to house her developing offspring, on the window above.
The wolf spider's killing field. May her victims rest in peace.
Melissa XX