Archive for September, 2009
We took a hike on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Basin Pond, a trail maintained by the Berkshire Natural Resources Council. We walked the lower part of the trail that led to the remains of a man-made dam that twice in the past, failed and flooded the residents downstream. The image above was taken close to the dam.
I’ve read that it is not unusual for a lily to bloom in September though this is the first time I saw it happen. I’ll bet our first morning frost is right around the corner.
As it was a rare, warm day without rain, I thought I’d take a hike in the woods. I couldn’t help but notice that once again, the fall colors in the Berkshires are rather dull and muted. It seems the foliage isn’t putting on a display before going into slumber, rejoicing in the season past, but drifting off into sleep with a big sigh. The forest doesn’t look well. The only sign of bright color was this leaf in the middle of the road and I had a feeling its beauty would be short lived before being shattered to pieces by a passing vehicle.
Queen Anne’s Lace grows wild in many areas of the Berkshires. According to the research I gathered, the plant was introduced from Europe and our current day carrots were once cultivated from it. The taproot, or carrot from the plant is supposed to be edible though I won’t be adding any to the dinner menu. Take caution when handling the leaves as they are toxic and can cause skin irritation to some.
The original image was taken in color and later converted to a black & white sepia toned image in CS2.
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