Saturday, September 26, 2009

Bye bye summer

My class was canceled (at the last minute grrr) yesterday, so I popped over to the gardens to see the state of things. There are still a lot of flowers in bloom, I assume the kinds that do that late in the season, since there hasn't been a killing frost yet. The trees are starting to turn and a few have already dumped all their leaves. It seems I learn something new every year about the autumn colors. Last year it was that the colors were the "true" colors of the leaves once the chlorophyll stops being produced. This year I learned that the bright red colors common with maples turn out to be an evolutionary advantage for them. Trees whose leaves turn yellow are more apt to attract parasitic insects than trees whose leaves turn red. Insects are more attracted to yellow. Apparently, this dynamic wasn't present in Europe so the trees over there don't turn red. New England and Eastern Canada are unique in this respect and thus a whole tourism industry has successfully arisen for "leaf peeping".

This weekend we are finishing up the laundry room and buying (on credit) a washer and dryer for it. We promised laundry in the building to the new tenant who moves in on the 1st so we've gotta get her done. Then this week is the first big week for the new college I'm working for. New for me anyway. I'm excited because it'll be the first time in many years that I will have over a dozen students in the class. It's also a bit intimidating since it will be a group of nurses, but I'm sure I'll win them over with my charm. Don't count on lots of posting though, I have a feeling it's going to be a draining experience. I'll be with this group from 9-4 every day so they should get a lot of good practice.

Other than that, there's not much to tell. Serge is still processing and having lots of bad dreams about his dad. There hasn't been much headway on the paperwork and things since we're still waiting for the will search to be completed. Once we have that, things should start going more quickly. And then sometime in October we'll do some pooch shopping. One thing at a time. Have a lovely weekend peeps.

13 comments:

CoffeeDog said...

I have always wanted to see the leaves in New England in the fall. We went to the Smokies last year and it was very pretty, lots of yellow. Our leaves haven't started chenging yet, our peak week is usually the third week of Oct.

Birdie said...

The green has gone dull here, the precursor to change. The height of colors is my birthday present, the third week of October. We get the full spectrum here: yellow, gold, orange, red, even purple. Gorgeous.

Java said...

Good luck with the nurses. Are they primarily female nurses? That is a straight man's dream, to be the center of attention in a room full of nurses (outside of a medical setting, mind you).

GayProf said...

Teaching 9-4 sounds exhausting. Our trees are also rapidly getting naked.

Anonymous said...

Not seeing much down here in RI yet. It's still too early.

We really don't get to the peak of the season until late October into early November.

And yes, 7 hours of teaching would make me crazy.

J-o-h-n-n-y said...

sometimes you just need an autumn walk in the park....have a great weekend!

:)

droba mallchok said...

Not just New England and E. Canada, darlin'. We get the full range of color here too with lots of brilliant oranges and crimsons, even purples. Sadly it only lasts for about a week at it's peak which will be here in about two or three more weeks. Right now though, things are still predominantly green with some yellows creeping in here and there.

Mel said...

I love fall. Most of the state had a frost advisory overnight, but being at the southern tip and right by the ocean, we didn't get nearly cold enough. Which is good, since I still have some beans to harvest.

anne marie in philly said...

nothing has changed colors in PA yet, but (as birdie noted) the greens are dull.

I do so love autumn, but NOT winter! and NOT the shorter daylight hours either!

{{{{{hugs}}}}} to serge and you!

PS - word is "wines"...yeah baby yeah!

Rox said...

That's the one thing I miss about the east coast, the leaves in the fall. Everything here is orange and yellow...it's so beautiful but makes me sad.

Give Serge a big hug from me. I feel so bad for his loss.

lattégirl said...

The leaves are only just starting to turn in the Laurentians; before this time last year, I had already taken 2 motorcycle trips to the Gatineau area and the colours were at their glorious peak. Guessing it'll be another week, two max, before the real show arrives. Your photo is serene.

Patricia said...

The leaves here are getting gorgeous. My trip up north last weekend was a hint of what'll be in my area in a couple of weeks.

A new washer and dryer is exciting. Sad, but true. Are you going to take the new ones and put your older ones in for the tenant? See that's what would make me a bad landlady. (Ew I hate that word.)

Greg said...

Love that photo of the trees.

We get a good variety of fall color here on the Cape, just about every color you can imagine. And there's lots of great things blooming late in the season, too.

Enjoy your weekend!

(sssh, yay pooch shopping...)