Cruising Through October

October Afternoons...

This poor tree is completely bald already. 

Cruising down Rt 135 this morning, I was amazed by the countryside streaming by as I traveled from one home visit to another. The reds, the oranges, the yellows...they all seemed even more vibrant against the backdrop of gray clouds that threatened to blanket the mountain tops. Some of the trees were beginning to look like balding men, a little thin on the top but with plenty left around the bottom and sufficient in the middle.  I liked when a truck would fly by, stirring up enough of a breeze that I got showered in a litter of leaves as the trees shook angry fists at the trucker for disturbing their peace.

Taken along the truck runaway ramp. Yes, I drove right by there. No, I did not drive onto the runaway ramp to take a picture; I found this on the good ole' Internet. 

 The mountain ridges seemed layered one in front of another with a randomness that made sense.

Backbone Mountain (elevation 3,684 ft at it's highest point) is along my route and it is stunning. I would have taken pictures, but didn't have any camera but for my cell phone and it's not all that great, so I found some on-line. Not Autumn pictures, but at least you can see the mountains.

I think we live in a beautiful part of the country. Our mountains may not be the Rockies, the Swiss Alps, or the Andes Mountains, but they are our mountains.

I continued my drive, seeing many signs warning of the steep grade yet to come, and crisscrossed numerous railways before passing Westvaco (or Luke Paper Mill as I always knew it). This is an immense factory with an industrial presence that is daunting, yet fascinating. Smoke and steam billows from a myriad of smokestacks, filling the air with the smell of cabbage cooking. Some people think it smells like stinky feet, but I rather like it. I want to have mashed potatoes and smoked sausage every time I visit there.

After my visit is complete, I head home, on out to I-68, Grantsville and then Springs. Sometimes I cut across another series of winding roads, some with rocks overhanging the roadway, but not today. Today, I want to get home.

The fire was started in the furnace over the weekend and it is cozy in my house. Some of my hot-blooded children (and my husband!) think it's too warm, but I like it. I am sitting here now listening to the silence, broken only by the clock marking the time. I would have liked to have stayed curled up here all day, but I had a job to do.

And, you know, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed my work and I enjoyed the scenery. October is upon us, full steam ahead. And in case you had any doubts...

Pine needles cover the ground.
Not nearly as much fun to jump in as a pile of leaves!

These always remind me of Indian feathers.

Coal for the furnace; yes, it's that time. 

Is this a tree comb-over?

Leaves, like boats, having their own kind of Regatta. 

Love,

Dianne