A Second Fall

For a long time, I've believed that we have two springs every year. It's a Northwoods sort of thing. The first spring comes when mud replaces snow. The second spring comes when green nubs of grass push through the brown grass and the teeniest of wildflowers begin blooming.

This year, I've decided we also get a second fall. The first fall comes with all that expect blue skies, nip in the air, and glorious fall colors. But sometime in the last week or so, we transitioned in our second fall, when the skies cloud up, the nip in the air turns downright chilly and the leaves are all but gone. Now we're in a dead time, an interval before snow.

Honestly, I think it's a lovely time of year.

Andy and I took a break from cutting, splitting, and stacking firewood yesterday to head out on a deer scouting forage. Warm temperatures stretched so far into October this year that it's hard to believe it's the end of October and nearly Halloween, let alone almost deer season. Apparently the deer don't believe it either; there's very little deer sign out there right now, although our cooler temperatures as of late should get the deer moving around again. 

But even if there are no deer to be found, there are still plenty of reasons to be out in the woods.

I wanted this funky lichen to be "British Soldiers" but I don't think it is.

This morning I woke up to thick, fluffy snowflakes falling. A dusting of snow settled on everything. 

It's time to enjoy this second fall as long as we can before it slips into a colder, snowier type of season.