With the “official start” of winter coming soon according to the calendar, even though it snowed on October 3 this year, I figured another autumn picture was needed on this cloudy morning with more snow flakes gently falling from the gray sky since it is still autumn.
Autumn’s Colorful Hues
With another very foggy day, it is hard to see the trees across the lawn so no chance of being able to able to see across a field. But then there are no pretty autumn leaves to see anymore if it wasn’t foggy, although you might see some corn yet in the fields waiting to be harvested.
The wet, damp conditions haven’t allowed the corn to dry down enough to store the kernels without drying the corn which is an added expense. And since 95% of corn farms are family farms, extra added expense is never desired so it is a gamble on letting the corn dry naturally to save dying cost but it needs to be harvested before the snow get too deep so they can get into the fields with a combine or it can’t be harvested until spring which causes a lost of bushels when the snow snaps ears to the ground.
Corn efficiency has increased over the years, from an average 38 bushels per acre in 1950 to 153 bushels per acre in 2010.
Corn to Harvest
While I prefer sunny days, a cloudy autumn day (especially a warm day) is much better than a cloudy winter day (especially a cold day with several inches of snow predicted)!
Cloudy Autumn Day at the Lake
The sun might be out today but it is not peeking through bright, colorful leaves as there are only a few brown oak and apple leaves left on the trees and it is not a warm sunshine either. Course I only have to wait another 10 to 11 months before seeing the autumn leaves again.
Sunlight through Autumn Leaves
It seems like in photography to get a good picture is 99% luck and I didn’t have good luck with this church picture for the timing of taking an autumn scene. The hillsides were changing into their colorful array on my way to an appointment until I got to the church where only a hint of color was showing and since it was too early in the day, the sun hadn’t moved into the correct position yet but at least the clouds were pretty that day so one out of three pieces fell in place. I wasn’t able to get back to the area later to get the full color but maybe next year I will have better luck.
Hint of Color at St. Katherine’s
There won’t be too many more sunsets over open water for a while as small ponds and lakes have frozen over already and with a cold week on tap with below zero wind chills, more lakes will ice up.
Sunset Over Open Water
Even though the snow has only been on the ground a few days, I am tired of winter already and would like to rewind to see a few more autumn days.
Wanting Autumn Again
This Sunday’s picture is another non-white rural church but does have a slight connection with last week’s picture. Last week’s church was rebuilt after a tornado and was where my mom attended as a child and this week’s church was rebuilt after a fire on a winter morning in 1945. (Since I wasn’t born yet, I don’t know if the original church was white or not.) The present structure was finished in 1952 and is where I have attended most of my life. It is also the church from which we held the funeral services for my father last month and today some of dad’s relatives are coming to visit since the snow storm won’t arrive until tomorrow.
St. Bridget’s Church
The fallen leaves might have more than rain drops on them if the weather predictions are right as they might be covered in a foot of snow.
Changing Seasons
In seems like a blink of an eye, the colorful maple leaves disappear and end up on the ground leaving bare limbs until spring returns after a long winter.
Vanished Red
