…that I love hembree park is no secret, but I was surprised I hadn’t posted about seeing the change in seasons there since last summer. note to self – the park deserves four seasonal posts each year!
so it’s a bit of serendipity that holly and I took a walk there yesterday afternoon and captured a bit of early fall, 2011. I usually teach class on monday evenings and these past few months it’s been hotter than hot; even if I had the time for a walk, I’d rather be indoors. but yesterday, it seemed like fall. the morning was actually cloudy and a bit chilly, but by 4:30 the sky had cleared to a bright blue, there was a slight breeze and it was about 72 degrees. (when I go to heaven, that’s what I imagine the weather will be like…unless I’ve just finished an alpaca sweater and then it will be about 32 degrees…I digress…)
I had my camera. holly had the breeze. we walked. a man strolled by while holly was checking out the leaves around a tree trunk. he said “this is going to be a long walk…” I said “yep!” *SMILE!* because really, what better way to spend an hour!
and – as always! – I was amazed by what I saw. I spend at least a few hours in this park every week. I hope one day to be such a great noticer that I’m not surprised when I slow down and look…or maybe I don’t. (and for the record, I had noticed the beautyberries and the pears and the leaves before the walk!)
here’s what we saw – the soundtrack is leaves rustling in that light breeze, the crack of metal baseball bats against balls and the occasional yell.
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| the uphill path, looking up… this is my favorite direction to run, but I love to walk it downhill |
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| the sole mystery sighting… the outer covering resembled raspberries last week – cleary, they’re not! |
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| sap on birch tree (confirming that amber is one of my favorite stones) |
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| beautyberry – I always thought this was a fall show, but wikipedia says no, it’s actually summer…which explains why we saw so much of it in rosemary beach! |
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| the best color we saw |
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| the pears… looking good despite the drought and the heat |
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| pecans (really, we have pecans?!) |
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| and acorns – I see them in abundance on the ground, but not usually on the tree |
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| the last photo I took…a fitting end to our early fall walk. |
6 Comments
Anonymous
HOW LOVELY! Beautiful photos! I miss the fall. Unfortunately, palm fronds don't turn orangey-red 🙁 Hope you make this a series and give us a look into the park later this fall and into the winter!
Sara
Wow great photos – glad to see "our" pear tree has survived. Who knew there were pecans there? That red thing looks like some flesh-eating plant to me.
I'm sure Holly enjoyed the reprieve from the heat, but if there metal bats I assume children, too… 🙂
Carole Knits
I would love to walk there with you and Holly. Beautiful photos, thanks for sharing them.
Honoré
Fall is my favorite season and this post eloquently points out why. Thanks for taking us along on your walk; t'was so refreshing and enjoyable. Lovely photos and I especially liked the accompanying soundtrack.
I look forward to y/our winter walk.
Cheers~
Lydia
yep, amazing foilage fotos-glad holly is able to join you again.
Kym
So lovely. I love seeing all the seeds and nuts and changing leaves in the fall — such a beautiful time of year. Thanks for sharing your walk with us.