This year I put up my Dickens Christmas Village. It is a whole day's project to put up and another to take it down. I admit that it is much more fun putting it up, and that I dread the taking down part. I hadn't put it up for a couple of years. I took lots of pictures of it and I'm posting some here to share.
We had our first snow of this winter last night. We also had a power outage because the snow was wet and therefore, heavy, plus it was very windy. But this morning we woke up to a pristine and beautiful scene. These are some of the images I caught just outside my house.
This year it seems that Michigan didn't put on as vivid a fall color show as it has in other years. I think that the excessively hot summer must have stressed the trees and they pretty much just folded and dropped rather than turn the vibrant colors that can take your breath away.
Usually about sometime after the first week in October is when Michigan’s trees are at their color peak. With that in mind we went, armed with cameras at the ready, in search of some scenes to photograph.
We didn’t come home empty handed, but we were somewhat disappointed that most trees seemed to have just shrunk and dropped their leaves The ones that had color showed more yellows with very few vibrant orange and red in the mix.
Here are a few of the photos we took that day. It was, to be sure, a beautiful day. The air was just fresh but still warmish, it was sunny with blue skies and it was good to just walk about and be outdoors. A great excuse to go on a drive and walkabout.
Waking up on a winter Michigan morning can be full of beautiful surprises. These are a few pictures of one of those mornings when the beauty of nature takes your breath away. These were taken from by backyard.
The air feels fresher and cleaner in the fall
Ghoulies hanging out in my front yard
Me and my buddies hanging out
We keep strange company this time of the year
And then there are the beautiful colors
Even without their leaves, trees are a thing of beauty
Fields and trees getting ready for the cold winter ahead
Sunset at Black Lake
Huron Beach, Hammond Bay
Chuck walking on Huron Beach
Ornamental cherry tree blossoms in spring
Woodpecker at my feeder
My peony bush is so beautiful when in bloom. Unfortunately, the flowers are so short-lived. Like so many things that we look forward to all year the peonies are in their full glory for, perhaps a week, and then they start to tumble over, especially if there has been a windy day or a heavy rain, and their glorious beauty dies away for another year.
I was, however, able to capture some of their beauty in photos, which will have to suffice until, like the phoenix, they come back to life next year.
Change is Good
