Monday, October 10, 2011

Date Night

“Let’s finish the chores early and head out to see the fall colors. I haven’t really gotten out to see them this fall, and I need some pine cones.” That’s all I needed to hear to pick up the work pace a bit. By 6:00 PM we were on the road west to Taquamenon Falls, for leaf peeping and dinner at the brew pub. Two stops at red pine stands along the way yielded some cones for decorative uses. Red pine cones are good for that. They’re squat and solid with flat bases. And they're not sticky like white pine cones. Got to the park at about dusk. Walked to the first overlook to the falls. I had never been to the falls at dusk (I’m usually out there in the summer during the day, not late in the evening). The red-enriched light came in along the canyon. One particular trees with yellow-tinted leaves caught the light just right, almost making the tree glow. The falls were backlit. Now I need to go in the morning to see the falls lit by the morning sun. Someone in another group mentioned to his companion how cool it'd be to light the falls like Niagrara. I chose not to verbalize my disagreement. On the way back on the trail, the almost full moon shone between the tree tops. A photo would not do that image justice. One of those that makes a better mental image than a captured image. The fact that the view through the tree tops was so good because of the beech die-off made it a bit melancholy of an image. A nice dinner at the brew pub among several other people out enjoying what the fall scene has to offer and a nice drive home winding along the Curley Lewis Highway topped off a wonderful date night. We could have kept working on all the chores that still remain to be done, but it’s important to get out and see what there is to see. That’s why we live here.

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