Fall's first frost

The colors of fall are showing up here and there now. 

Thursday morning the temperature was moderate and bearable at 37 degrees.  The wind which was howling on Wednesday had calmed at last.  The dog and I set out to walk up to the east end of the paved road.  The sky was very blue and clear with just a few of the high cirrus clouds that had been so prevalent on Wednesday.

Our first frost was a light one. 

Frost on this leaf was melting as I watched. 

As we walked by my neighbor's fields I noticed that frost had formed during the night. This is the much anticipated first frost that will kick off our cold season.    I like to take a close look at the ice crystals formed by the frost on the plants along the road side. The patterns the ice sometimes forms can be fascinating.   We continued on until we were near the end of the road where the dog stopped. He did not want to go any further as he is still scared of the electric fence.   The surrounding country side on this end of the road is very pretty as it takes on the colors of fall.  I noticed also that the birds are filling the brush along the road sides taking advantage of the bounty of wild flower seeds they are finding there.   I saw quite a few finches and wrens as well as a few cardinals on the fence lines.  As we turned and headed back I decided to stop and take a look at the Soybean field.

The soybean field is empty now,
with the exception of the dog.

  The owner of the field has harvested his crop in the last few days and nothing remains of the beans but plant stalks and bean shells.  I am not sure if there are any animals that will be scavenging the lost soybeans that are laying on various parts of the field.  It seems that surely there would be something that would want to use all that protein.  I personally have never seen any birds or animals looking for the lost beans in the harvested soybean fields.  That is have not seen them at any time I was walking by during daylight.   Maybe they come at night or maybe they know something about soybeans that we don't .   We left the field and walked on toward the house and as we passed the field where we saw the frost earlier I noticed that  the frost was gone.  Frost is very fleeting.  You have to observe it while it is there because if you turn your back for a moment it will be gone.  There's a lesson in there somewhere I think.  Thanks for reading my blog today.  Get out and enjoy the sun if you can.  Bye.