At the outset, Mr C and I doubted whether there would be any fall color left to see. Around the Michigan house, the trees were bare, or, if they were oak, the leaves were brown.
Nonetheless, we set out for a traipse in a nearby nature preserve, the Ambler Flatwoods, which we’d never visited before. This preserve is one of many in northern Indiana that the Shirley Heinze Land Trust stewards.
The forests stood bare, except for an understory of some remarkable beeches. They differed from the variety we see in the Warren Woods, because these had larger leaves, and their leaves and branches depended nearer to the ground. The leaves suffused the gloom with an apricot-gold blaze.
A mind-boggling profusion of leaves covered the trail. To look at them while walking is dizzying, the extent of a mystery that inspires awe.
Harley says
Great photos ! I’m going to put that preserve on my list to visit.