Extra, extra…read all about it…did you know there’s only 25 days until Autumn arrives? Can I just say…whoopee. Welcome to this week’s episode of Nature Friday were we join our pals from Adventures of the LLB Gang. Don’t forget to check out what bits of Nature have been shared by others.
Wilson here. Today’s a bit of odds and ends with a splash of hope mixed in. While the time when the days until autumn begins to grow shorter, the weather hasn’t abated much. We were gifted a lovely shower on Wednesday evening and while it was brief, it was very welcomed. With daily alerts of air quality warnings popping up on Mum’s phone every day, it was a joy that the air at least felt clean, even if it wasn’t totally clean air. Early morning hours are the best to get out and get our walks in before it heats up.
The Mum: Hey there House Pony, so what have you got for us this week? I read something about odds and ends. Are you saying I’m not holding up my end on the photography?
Wilson: No, Mum. It’s just that we’ve been busy and photographic opportunities have been fairly plain and I know you like to find the unusual.
The Mum: That’s true, I think the landscape is starting to wane a little. But we did manage to find a few sights that give us a teensy tiny bit of hope that the landscape is getting ready to do its thing for our favorite season. I mean, just look at these Symphyotrichum, otherwise known as asters.
Wilson: Hmmm, those are kind of pretty. Endemic to North America (though there are some in the West Indies and Central America), asters have been introduced in Europe too. For all species, the ray florets can be white, pink, blue, or purple. When asters start blooming, it’s definitely a signal that Mother Nature is preparing it’s autumn line up of flowers. Big box stores are putting out buckets of Chrysanthemums, aka ‘mums’ for inclusion in urban gardens.
The Mum: I for one am welcoming asters and mums to the landscape. But I noticed this glorious Hibiscus is still going gangbusters along our daily walks. the flowers are gigantic!
Wilson: Is it just me or have we started to see some changes to the leaves in a few trees?
The Mum: I’ve done a double take along our walks at more than one tree that was ever so slightly starting to look a bit autumnal. I think I squealed when I saw this maple starting to turn red.
Wilson: In all fairness though, the changing colors could be due to stress from the relentless 90+F degree days (32.2C).
The Mum: You’re right, but I have noticed tiny spots on trees that are beginning. It’s still early on but at least it provides us weary peeps some hope that soon this summer of hell will be in the history books.
Wilson: I’ve begun to notice small spots of the cottonwood trees beginning to change. It’s kind of exciting to see them changing, though I know you’ll be picking up the leaves from now to forever.
The Mum: I noticed yesterday that even the thistle weeds are looking a bit bedraggled from the heat and lack of moisture. We are more than 5″ down on moisture according to one local TV station when reporting on the drought though as I noted above, we received part of the isolated showers that fell a couple of days ago. But overall, we’re still in a very severe drought.
Wilson: All we can do it hope and pray. In the meantime, we’ll look at the landscape and marvel at those hardy souls that can survive these conditions. Well that’s about it for us. Like everyone else this week, we were shocked and heartbroken that Dolly Parton earned her heavenly wings. Dolly was well known as a prolific songwriter, an award winning singer, actor and philanthropist. She was very committed to promoting literacy and the environment. Little Halia is a recipient of books from Dolly’s Imagination Library. Did you know that Dolly was a major contributor to wildlife conservation, local ecosystem protection, and climate-driven natural disaster relief as well as animal rescue directing her foundation’s efforts toward actionable, community-based environmental stewardship rather than through political lobbying efforts. She will always be loved by the world.
The Mum: We hope everyone has a lovely weekend and take time out to enjoy Mother Nature first hand.
Live, love, bark! 🐾
Greetings and salutations, everyone. Happy Friday. Wilson here…and as always, I’m joining those lovable pups from the 
Greetings mates. Wilson here and I’d like to welcome everyone to this week’s edition of Nature Friday where as always, we’re joining our friends at 
