Each Is Colorful In Its Own Way

 My previous post was my reaction to the stereotypical fall colors experience as reported on websites that advertise the phenomenon, usually to promote tourism.  This post emphasizes those features of fall that make it my friend Dalynn's favorite season.  I'm leaning in that direction myself.  These first two photos begged to be taken, although they're not very good.  When I stepped out on my front porch this morning, all the branch tips on my birch trees held drops of water from last night's rain. Lit up from behind, they glowed like jewels, and many of them radiated little rainbows.  It was quite spectacular to behold, although my camera and I weren't up to the task.  You'll have to imagine.

 This little Dogwood hasn't grown much over the past several years.  It is in deep shade of tall firs and pines, and is probably growing in very marginal (for it) soil.  Nevertheless, the splash of pink was an attractive contrast to the darkness.

 I revisited the large fungi at the foot of my driveway and, at first, was disturbed that someone came along and kicked them over.  It turns out, though, that only this one was upsiade-down and detached from its stem.

 Its neighbor, only a foot away was intact, although beginning to shrivel.

 Then I found evidence!  A large pile of fresh bear poop.  I'm honestly not a coprophile in any weird sense of the word, but I enjoy the fact that wild animal droppings (there's a politer word) provide evidence of all sorts of biological phenomena.  Scatology is another word that fits here when we're talking biology.  However, in the sense of literary study, that's another story.  I'm an amateur scatologist only in the former sense.

 Evidence that the show is not over, another large one is just now emerging just a few feet away.  As I said in an earlier post, these are probably all connected underground and are thus a single organism.

 In some years, the Cascara Buckthorn leaves turn all the colors of the rainbow, but this year they appear to be turning only yellow then brown.  On this particular tree, most were still green, and all the ones on the ground were shade of yellow or brown.  I think they're skipping red and orange this year.

 Lots of little fungi are growing in my lawn.  Difficult to spot, but very cute.

 This one (below) is backed up by a Yellow Wood Sorrel which looks like clover, but has yellow, trumpet-shaped flowers all spring and summer.

 The only bright red on this walk was provided by this single, tiny blossom on the edge of my driveway.  I believe it's a non-native, but I haven't yet identified it.  It's around 1/2" in diameter.  Click on any of these images for closer looks.