rusty and crusty

That's how I'd describe this year's autumn color season, for the most part.Definitely not the brilliant fruit loop type autumn as the trees have turned very sporadically due to the absolutely crazy weather conditions. I had such high hopes this summer, which was extremely cool and rainy. Then September happened. Driest on record. Then, October happened....! very cold with freezing temps. Tons of foliage are still on the trees,especially by the lake. Many leaves are still green,(oaks) and simply shriveling around the edges. Went for a drive yesterday, and for the most part, some aspen have a good amount of yellow,, the birch haven't fared so well, being one of the trees that turned earlier and freezing temps caused leaves to turn brown. Maples vary widely, with a majority of them a golden orange. Reds are very hard to come by this year. It's not a wash though, with the recent yellowing of the aspen and maples turning hillsides a mixture of burnt orange hinted by some brilliant golden stands of maple. Photography wise, photographers have their work cut out for them this year, with a large number of low pressure systems sweeping through the area creating many rainy,sometimes snowy, DARK, windy days, like... today!
It's funny when we do art shows, we have a small image displayed of a single tamarack surrounded by other pine species. The tamarack is a pine tree that turns golden yellow in autumn before loosing it's needles. Many people that visit our booth at the art shows have never seen these trees and think I intentionally altered the tree yellow. From what I understand, the tamarack is found as far south as West Virginia, but it's a handful of northern states. Right now, these are the trees that stand out the most, their contrast is spectacular against the black spruce. If you are lucky to find them in a bog with blueberry bushes, all the better, as those blueberry leaves are turning red. Snow cover forecast today should create some interesting scenes in these parts, as long as we don't get totally dumped on, a nice dusting would be plenty!

tamarack trees, upper peninsula of michigan