It's Getting All Autumnal Up In Here

We're about a month into our second autumn in the Bitterroot and it has been fun to discover (and rediscover) some of the beauty of this time of year.  Down on the valley floor there are a lot more deciduous trees than I remember seeing around in Washington County and in Portland or maybe here their colors are different or the angle of the sun (or the fact that the sun is out a lot) make them seem brighter.  Also, the whitetail deer and the wild turkeys are hanging around the yard and road more these days which is fun to see so long as you see them at the right time when you're driving.

(apologies for the orientation issue which is partly responsible for the size, but at least I got it rotated)

The type of trees along our road up from the valley floor undergo quite a bit of change in the 5 or 6 minutes it takes to get to our house.  This photo is taken at the bottom of the mountain, just as the road turns from pavement to dirt.

From our house your can see the swaths of gold as the tamaracks change color in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness.  You can also see just a bit of snow up there above the timberline.

Last year we had snowfall before Halloween. It didn't stay for long.  I hope we get some this year before
I take down the Bone Yard so I can get a photo of snow on the head stones.  Snow in October sounds so cold, but I still can't get over how much warmer 50 degrees is here. Last week, I sat with Delia in the 'chicken yard" as she fetched, sniffed, and chewed on grass and pine cones; it was not even 50 degrees and I had to take off my coat because it was so warm in the sun. I sat there for at least 15 minutes in yoga pants and a long-sleeve tee shirt and I was warm. I even got a little too warm on the sun side.  I took this phone photo of the southwest sky.