Oh, it was a glorious day for a bike ride!
Hey there, pokey fuzzy thingie.
I suited up and hit the rail trail a few days ago. It’s turning to fall now, and that means…well, of course it means that the leaves on the trees are turning spectacular shades of gold and red and orange. But it also means other plants are changing. Drying up, or exploding into fuzzies. Pulling out one last gasp of color. And in the meanwhile, all these plants are busy adding a deep, rich sense of texture to the trail. Call it nature’s Halloween decor, if you will.
It’s a chuckle patch! (Magic Garden fans, you know what I’m talking about.)
Whether the colors are vibrant or subdued, they’re all a visual treat.
Old Rattlebones the Milkweed Pod, that’s what this is.
It can look surprisingly like an oil painting.
Pokeberries at the end of the season.
And there’s berries far out into the sky and the leafless trees. Kind of like looking at the Hubble Deep Field images. Only different.
Billions and billions of berries… ~~Apologies to Carl Sagan~~
I never noticed how well black walnut pods match their nubbly leaves, but there you have it.
Nature gets all matchy-match.
And then there’s a poof!
I believe they call this the Santa plant. (Like I would know.)
And a pow!
Like fireworks.
And a…uh…
Admit it, these kind of look like Animal from Sesame Street.
The trees were in a full-spectrum onslaught of pretty.
Turning, not one, not two, but THREE fall colors for your enjoyment!
And there were a few spokey-looking…I have no idea what these things are. But I sure do dig their style.
For all I know they just released spores of alien dust and we are now all doomed. But they look cool, innit?
Even your basic, standard-issue corn is getting into the groovy-texture act (with a little help from a neighboring plant).
Clearly, corn knows how to accessorize.
And a vast army of wilting sunflowers still manages to look stunning (though perhaps slightly dejected) in the afternoon sun.
Sunflower post-mortem.
The thing is, pretty much no matter where you look on the rail trail you’ll see something that will catch your eye. It’s not hard to find something of interest, when you’re surrounded by this.
Hello.
If you want to find out some more information about the Buffalo Valley Rail Trail, you can visit them on the web here, find them on Facebook, or Twitter away. The BVRT is owned and operated by the Buffalo Valley Recreation Authority and may be contacted via email bvrailtrail@bvrec.org or telephone 570-524-4774.
And to play you out, here’s local singer/songwriter KJ Reimensnyder-Wagner‘s ode to the BVRT, appropriately titled:
See you there!
Ahh . . . thanks for all the pretty pictures of my favorite season.
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My pleasure! 🙂
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great pictures and commentary… I love it on the trail…the beauty of this area never ceases to amaze me! Thanks for sharing! We were away this past weekend so were not able to ride… So glad you shared your sights-now I don’t feel quite so bad about not riding it myself.. Ok, well… Almost😉 S
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Yes, it’s stunning around here. It’s part of the reason I love it as much as I do! 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
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You saw some beautiful sights. Your photos of them are stunning.
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Wow, thank you! I was really pleased with them, but getting feedback like this just makes my day even better. I’m so glad you liked the photos. Thanks so much for dropping by and leaving such a lovely compliment. Cheers!
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