three leaves

While most of the trees here are still wearing green leaves, some are showing autumn colors. I was delighted to see three leaves in bright red highlighted by late day light.

quiet waters

The water was quiet in this inlet just south of Odiorne Point State Park. As I look past the sheltering rocks, ocean waves can be seen.

the smell of paint

Can you smell the paint?

I headed to Salem today knowing that there were artists working on murals both high on buildings and on chunks for fence surrounding a National Grid property. The North Shore Community Development Coalition is holding a block party on Saturday to celebrate the Punto Urban Art Museum. Today was two days before the event; knowing that I wanted to see some of the artists at work I thought today would be a good day for a visit.

an artist at work


the start of a mural by Chor Boogie

More photos from today can be seen in the gallery walls and water :: Salem, MA starting with this photo and ending here.

late day light

It's hard to believe how fast the daylight is shrinking. Sunset today was early, at 6:32 PM.

I headed to Harold Parker State Park late in the daylight hours. The interesting afternoon clouds dissipated before my early evening walk, but a background of autumn leaves and ripples in the water created interesting reflections.

intertwined

As I was walking in Odiorne State Park intertwined yellow leaves and a teal colored chain link fence caught my eye. The splash of bright color was wonderful.

by the sea

A continuation of unseasonable warmth drew me to the New Hampshire coast for a walk by the sea. I shared this coastal moment with a sea gull standing on a rock, enjoying the sea breeze.

warm

Warm temperatures have returned for (what is forecast to be) a few days.

As the daylight moved closer to sunset I headed to the garden to enjoy the flowers. Some have clearly faded over the last few days but some are still wearing bright colors.

autumn enters

On this first day of autumn the feel of the weather matches the season with rain and cool air.

While the trees are still predominantly green, some leaves are showing early color.

late season dahlias

As the calendar moves closer to colder weather there are still many flowers in bloom.

The beauty and variety of dahlias always catch my eye.

condensation

Overnight fog outlined the petals of this very pink aster with droplets of water.

fading

I love seeing globe thistle in the prime season growing season. The "flower" is spiky, purple, and provides a feeding spot for bees. As autumn approaches the flowers are evolving. Some have turned to dark brown, others retain some of their color and wear a hat of brown.

I think globe thistle are beautiful. Do you agree?

morning fog

I woke up this morning to a sea of fog. I immediately headed to the Stevens-Coolidge Place, wanting to see the pop of floral color against the dense fog.

Some flowers are still in full bloom; others are wilting into an end-of-season state.

I love wandering in the garden during this seasonal transition.

More photos from my early morning garden visit can be seen in the gallery summer :: 2017 starting with this photo and ending here.

early color

Although the calendar says it is still summer for another week, some trees are showing a sign of autumn. I can see a rusty tinge to the sea of green leaves with occasional trees wearing a few leaves painted in red.

a sea of yellow

Colby Farm in Newbury, MA plants a field of sunflowers each year with the intent of allowing people to walk around (and possibly through) the field. After hearing that the sunflowers were (finally) in bloom, I tried to stop there on my way home from my volunteer stint at Parker River last Sunday. It turned out that a lot of other people had the same idea; there were cars illegally parked on the side of the road, a long line to get into the parking lot at the farm, and a wall of people standing in front of the field. I opted to drive by instead of stopping.

I headed back to the sunflower field on Monday where I was greeted by a sea of yellow. There were bees on many of the flowers and there were occasional monarch butterflies flitting by.

If you'd like to see more views of sunflowers, jump to the gallery a sea of yellow.

bright

Many flowers have faded as autumn draws closer; others have retained bright colors. I love the deep pink of these echinacea. The bees seem to be attracted to them too.

art at Maudslay

The annual outdoor sculpture show at Maudslay State Park opened last weekend. Yesterday was a good day for exploring the art scattered through the park.

Even with the sculptures concentrated in large open areas in the park I'm not sure that I found all of them. It's always fun to wander through art living in unexpected places.

The two pieces I've shared below have a relationship with trees; one uses the tree as a focus for the sculpture and the other uses the tree as a presentation method.

Push / Pull, by Muriel Angelic


Autumnal Green Man, by Sue Gately

The felted Autumnal Green Man is my favorite of the show.

More photos of the sculptures can be viewed in the gallery wandering Maudslay :: 2017 starting with this photo and ending here.

a Chanticleer visit

Although the day was gray and threatening rain I headed to Chanticleer Garden last Wednesday for a quick flower visit. As the end of the growing season gets closer, the flowers are tall, the beds full of life.

Some of the flowers were still showing prime blooms while others have started to fade. Flowers at all stages of life are wonderful.

More photos from Chanticleer can be seen in the gallery two gardens starting with this photo and ending here.

late afternoon

As I was driving home from Parker River late this afternoon the clouds and reflections in Lake Cochichewick caught my eye. I stopped to walk and to enjoy the view.

perched

Birds are very much attracted to this bush. Many more than the two exposed here were perched within the branches.

to Washington's Headquarters

The rain moved out overnight leaving a gray early morning sky. As the day progressed the sky wore bright blue decorated with fluffy white clouds.

I headed to the Valley Forge National Historical Park thinking I would follow the Joseph Plumb Martin trail in a big loop. Instead I headed out and back on that trail, following an offshoot that led to Washington's Headquarters.

Walking through that very small house was quite interesting. I understand that the house is about 80% original; some restoration was needed. The kitchen hearth was huge. The bedrooms upstairs were small, the beds were quite short. The stairs were worn, and the ceilings appeared to get shorter floor by floor.

It was a good walk.

gray

The color of today's sky is gray. The air is cool, wearing a taste of autumn.

It was a good day for a walk at Chanticleer Garden. There are still flowers in bloom, many in the last stages of bloom. I think the overall gray nature of the day made the colors in the garden really pop.

summer heat

After a stretch of cooler than normal days, today it feels like summer is back. It appears the warmth won't last too long though; the forecast calls for a drop back to cooler weather tomorrow.

A zinnia in pink is a good sign of today's summer warmth.

simple beauty

As I wandered the gardens at Tower Hill last week I saw a bed of strawflowers. What an interesting flower! Although they appear to be dry (but colorful) flowers, they are very much alive.

The flowers are in the same family as daisies and sunflowers, Asteraceae. The petals of these flowers are stiff and paperlike; those that I saw wore bright colors.

dahlia delight

The patterns and colors in the petals of an opening dahlia are a delight to see.

It has been a very good flower season.

blue

The light was fading, the wind was light. A late-day walk by a pond at the Harold Parker State Forest delighted the eye with blue skies and subtle rippled reflections.