Monday, November 15, 2010

A Midwestern Fall

I wasn't quite sure what to expect of fall here in the Midwest. Since I'm from New England--the land famous for beautiful fall foliage, where almost every street you drive down in the fall looks like a postcard--I knew I had to lower my expectations a bit. It's a good thing I did! The leaves do change colors here and it's lovely, but it's not close to the breathtaking profusion of colors that you'll find everywhere in New England. This is a picture I posted on my blog two years ago that I randomly took while running errands around home in Connecticut: 


Yeah, it's not like that here. For starters, there aren't nearly as many trees as there are back East. But I think it's very pretty here in Iowa in the fall. It's a more subtle beauty. The thing I've liked most about it, at least from a photographic perspective, is that it helps me to focus on the little details, like the amazing individual leaves that are the basic building blocks of fall foliage. I'm happy to say that this native New Englander has enjoyed fall in the Midwest, so I guess we'll stick around for some more of them.

I took all these pictures throughout September and October in an exciting place--my backyard!  
(I apologize that I stack my photos one after another instead of putting some side-by-side or in mosaics. I don't know how to do mosaics and whenever I try to put pictures side-by-side it doesn't work. Someday I'll learn!)




The summer green is mixed in with the fall red here. It's a mixture of my two favorite seasons.
Close...
Closer...
Closest of all!
I like the feathery yellow leaves of this giant tree at the back of the yard.


A semi-circle of trees in the next-door neighbor's backyard.
Bare trees can be beautiful too.



I hope you've enjoyed your fall as much as I have!