The Very Last Ball

The ferns are gilding themselves in bronze these days, almost as if they are putting on armor for battle against the coming winter winds.  They look bold as if defying changes and seeming to deny that they are facing an impending big sleep.

The fall rains bring out the best in the tree fungus.  Everywhere a tree has fallen from some summer storm it gets layered in odd bits and parts.   I think this one is called a turkey tail and since we have newly seen wild turkeys in our woods, I can only smile when these begin to emerge as the weather gets wetter and cooler.  I have read that less than 5 percent of the estimated 1.5 million species of fungi have been described, and their exact roles and interactions in ecosystems are largely unknown.  I know that I seem to see something new and different whenever I poke about in the woods.  How appropriate that these saprophytic organisms appear in their best form just before Halloween!

And the more the woods decorate themselves like a bordello the more the sun starts peaking instead of boldly shining through the leaves.  Almost as if he is embarrassed by the audacious flirting of the trees.  The trees know it is the last ball of the season and they want to be remembered until spring.