Tuesday, October 20, 2009

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

10 comments:

Lucy Melford said...

Wow, these are really good for a first batch! I'm so glad you got the camera working. More, please.

You have to bear in mind that local shots of your area, with captions, are unobtainable in the UK. It's fascinating.

A word of caution, though: don't publish anything that would precisely identify your home - but I expect you've thought of that!

Lucy

Leslie Ann said...

What an idyllic place to live!

It appears you were taking pictures while driving on the interstate. You DO want to have another birthday, right?

Melissa said...

@ Leslie Ann

I was multi-tasking! Taking pictures with one hand, text messaging with the other, and steering with my knees! LOL!

No, actually I do believe in keeping my mind on driving. I never text message anyway, and woudn't even think of doing it while driving. I didn't mind taking these pictures, because I never had to take my eyes off of the road. I just steered with my left hand and rested the camera on top of the steering wheel, and pressed the shutter button whenever I saw something of interest.

Melissa XX

Melissa said...

@ Lucy

Thanks Lucy. I had to discard half of the pictures I took, when I discovered that I had the camera set on close up, instead of long view.

Melissa XX

Caroline said...

I guess that is much the style of garden I was aiming for but at a thousandth of the size in a suburban setting i don't think I am going to be able to compete with you! My pond is all of two metres across!

Are you trying to get pulled over for multi tasking by a hunky cop?

Caroline xxx

Anonymous said...

It seems from the photos the wait was definately worth while!
x

Melissa said...

@ Caroline

Yes, but you have that lovely wide river view, and those incredible sunsets!

Melissa XX

Kay & Sarah said...

Love the colors of the trees and the pictures of the pond with the reflections. Thanks Loved the woods around Ft. Lee, Virginia during the fall season.
Sarah

Melissa said...

@ Two Auntees

When I was fifteen, I spent two weeks in Kenner Army Hospital at Ft. Lee. My father was career Army, and he and my mother used to go to Ft. Lee, to shop in the PX and commissary.

Melissa XX

Calie said...

Your pictures could have been our place on the East Coast, where we lived for so many years and left not that long ago, Melissa. Brought back a lot of memories. I especially loved the pond pictures.

Calie xxx