Cold storage for our Summer memories

The frost at the roadside would hold on a few more minutes.

Friday morning the temperature was once again 27 degrees at sunrise.   I waited a little while after the sun came up so the dog and I would not have to walk in the really cold part of the morning.  When we started our walk the frost was beginning to melt from the sides of the road where the sun was shining but in the shadows everything was still frosty. 

Golden Rods covered with frost.

We passed by the once beautiful Golden Rods now turned gray and brown and covered with big frost crystals. Everything is beginning to take on the dull beige and gray color scheme of winter.   Fortunately we have a great deal of evergreens here which give us some relief from the complete winter package where all the trees are bare.  

We walked through the yard of the unoccupied home and headed into the woods. 

The aspect of winter is beginning to
lay heavy on the trail.

The trail into the woods was covered with frost in shadowy parts and the ice crystal stuck to my shoes as I walked.  As I ambled along the dog sprang through the grass beside me looking for the ever present field mouse or rat that may or may not be imaginary.  He has found several small shrew like animals hiding in nests under the grass in the abandoned fields which were likely hibernating.  Not much sport in that.   There may also be thousands of rabbit down here but I know of no one who actively hunts them each year.   I have seen them on the side of the road in the evening and they are pretty small and don't provide much of a meal.  

No frost here but still very cold.

We walked into the woods and found that all of the Golden Orb spiders have now disappeared.   They have most likely expired due to the cold.  A close examination of the shrubs near an old web will eventually turn up a small string of pea sized eggs looking like so much trash hanging in the bush.   The very small spiders will hatch out in late spring and begin building small webs close to the ground at first then moving higher as they grow in size. At the trails end we stopped and listened and found the woods very quiet.  The birds and squirrels were hiding somewhere warm till later in the day. 

Long shadows hide the ice as long
as possible. 

As we started out of the woods we walked over to the fence to have a look out across the Soybean field.  The long shadows created by the low sun angle at this time of year provides a hiding place for frost on the ground until well up into the day as long as the air temperature stays low.  On this morning though the air was warming quickly and the frost that had been on the grass when we passed a few minutes earlier was now melted and running away.  I enjoy looking at the land around me when it is covered in frost.   Although I take photos of it I know that many things which I see may only be seen by me and my dog when he chooses to look.  Thanks for reading my blog today.  Bye. 

Just a few more minutes of Summer

The field is decorated in fall colors

On Thursday morning the dog and decided to walk in the woods behind the unoccupied home just up the street.  The four wheeler trail is still a good way to get to the woods but the grass itself is starting to turn yellow.  Almost all of the fall wild flowers have finished blooming and have dropped their seeds.  The soybeans in the field next to this one stand dry and ready to harvest.   We walked on into the woods and found that the spiders that were there a few days ago have gone into hiding now.  They are most likely laying eggs and putting them in a safe place to spend the winter.  The webs will continue to hang in the woods untended until they deteriorate and fall.  The hunters have placed salt licks here to try and attract deer to the area so I always have to be careful when walking in the woods on the weekend or I could get shot.

The dog heads home with another prize.

We made it to the end of the trail and by then of course the dog had found a large stick to carry home.  He likes the rotten limbs that fall from the trees and break up on the ground.  As we walked back I noticed a very large Oak tree was covered in green moss at the base of it's trunk.

More moss on the north side.  

The moss made it look like something from Shrek or Lord of the Rings.  This tree is maybe 60 or 70 feet tall and has no limbs till somewhere around 40 feet above the ground.  It is a really nice looking tree.

It looks tall because it is.

 

We headed on back to the house where I had to clean up a mess the dog made.  As you know he is a collector and on Wednesday night during our walk he picked up the neighbor's new phone book which had been dropped off next to their mailbox.

He won't be making calls anytime soon.

He ran home ahead of me and began chewing it up and when he was inside the gate he tore it all to pieces.  I had to take my own copy down to the neighbors mailbox and leave it as a replacement.  I try to explain to the dog that it is OK to tear up the junk mail and discount coupons but that we may need the phone book at some point in the future.  I get the feeling he is not listening.  Thanks for reading my blog.  Bye.