The blessed days of autumn

A ray of morning sunlight glanced off a tree limb and reached toward me as I held the camera at just the right angle.

Autumn is a beautiful time to embrace the woods. The colors of the leaves can give a hint to what kind of autumn tree you might be looking at. Browns are often oaks and hickories. Yellows usually signal maples, elms, paw paw, tulip trees, cottonwoods and beech. Cypresses often turn a soft orange/red. Sweet gum trees often have yellow/orange leaves that transition to purple higher up. Reds can signal black gum, sassafras and sumac.

A combination of blustery wind and moderate to heavy rain will knock the beautiful leaves down. The peak of autumn usually comes a few days after the first and sometimes second frost. Freezing temperatures slow the upward flow of sap in the tree bark and the leaves die and fall in the wind.