September Ends with Rain, Finally

Towards the end of September, the drought in Ohio reached critical mass. Much of the state, including my home, reached the highest level, called exceptional drought. It's been a rough summer for gardeners, farmers, and everyone really. There hasn't been much to photograph in the nest, and nothing much to brag about, that's for sure. It's been very discouraging, to say the least. But finally, at month's end, rain did arrive. I could have danced for joy, but because the rain came with the damages of Hurricane Helene, I won't celebrate much. Now we wait to see what long term damage comes from the long drought. 

I recently did a presentation for the master gardeners, extolling the virtues of keeping your garden interesting through all four seasons. It involved a plethora of pretty pictures of my garden over the last couple years, but purposely none from this year. It felt a bit fraudulent to be honest. At the end of the question period, I got a chance to share some brutal honesty. One gardener asked "So how does your garden look this year?" My truthful reply was "Terrible." But when I got home that day, I made a point to find what moments of beauty I did have. However, try not to notice the brown lawn in the Sweetgum tree photo.  

We traveled to Virginia Beach early in the month, where it was delightful to see green again. It was cooler that week, so we didn't swim, but spent our time sightseeing instead. The drive through the mountains was gorgeous! I wish there were more scenic overlooks. 

Even though it's a bit early for fall colors, I did begin my usual haunting of the local metro parks, in search of scenic views. You see, to me the fall colors start with goldenrod. The local parks have massive fields of it, and in September, I begin to make my rounds of them. As much as I love those golden fields, I was even more tickled to find the first hints of fall color. The drought has stressed the trees so much that some of them have already given up trying to hang on to their chlorophyll. Unfortunately, drought stricken trees often skip their usual colors, and go straight to brown. But I'm still hoping for the best. 

Late September is usually when I begin to decorate for the season. I'd actually prefer for it to *feel* like fall first. But since it didn't seem like fall weather was ever going to arrive, I went ahead to the local pumpkin patch. It took me two trips to find all the Indian corn, gourds, broom corn, and pumpkins that I wanted. After using those goodies to decorate the porch and planters, I began my indoor fall decorating. Like so many others, autumn is my absolute favorite season, and the others aren't even close. It brings me endless pleasure to decorate with all the traditional trappings of the autumn season.

I haven't spent much time puttering around indoors, other than putting up the aforementioned fall decorations. But as usual, I switched out my tray, using an apple theme for September, and soon I'll switch over to pumpkins. I did make a few small bouquets from the hydrangeas and sunflowers, which have been mostly unbothered by the drought. 

As the month wore on, the goldenrod fields began to fade and more foliage began to turn. This was especially evident at Chestnut Ridge, where I often stop for a peaceful break. 

At month's end, we flew to Florida to visit my parents. To say it was an adventure would be an understatement. Our flight was very bumpy as Hurricane Helene approached, and no sooner did we get settled in when she arrived. We were safe, but didn't quite know what to expect from our first hurricane watch. Luckily there was no real damage here in central Florida. But along the coast was a different story, with catastrophic storm surge flooding. Unfortunately, we have a small property there, and it was severely damaged. But there are many other areas that fared far worse, so I'm trying not to complain about the loss. By the way, in the photo just below, you will see a small dark thing in the water, and yes, it is an alligator. 

Tomorrow, my favorite month begins. Hopefully it will have less drama than September, with its drought and hurricane. What does that tell you about our climate issues, that my life was directly affected by two extreme and opposite weather events at the same time? Regardless, my sunset closing is slightly different this month, as only one shot was taken at home. It's the time of year when sunsets slide back around to my patio, and are much harder to catch. But with all the park hopping I did, I found other interesting spots to photograph sunsets. 

I hope that when we talk again next month, the drought will be behind us, and the fall color show will have been worth the wait. Thanks for stopping by, as usual! On to October!