IMAGES OF FALL, AND WITCHES CAIRNS

RED MAPLE ALONG HWY. 13

BLUEBERRY BUSHES AT HIGHLAND VALLEY FARM

SUMAC ON OLD MILITARY ROAD

SMITH FIRE LANE

WITCHES' CAIRN ON SMITH FIRE LANE

Saturday, 7:00 AM.  62 degrees F, wind SW, moderate with stronger gusts.  The sky is overcast and it is a dark morning with a pink dawn.  The humidity is 73% and the barometer is 29.71".
   "Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning."
   I have washed every window in the house, so we again have a crystal clear view of the sky, the waters and the fall colors.  But the view comes at the price of some aches and pains this morning.
   It is a beautiful fall, and the weather has been very nice.  The tourist season is mostly over and the farm and backwoods roads are empty.  It's time to enjoy life in the Northland, even lingering at the view of a single red maple in its fall dress.
   Blueberries are excellent fall foliage plants, as the endless rows at Highland Valley Farm, the largest blueberry producer in Wisconsin, attest.
   Sumac don't just turn scarlet, they turn all shades of reds and orange.  These on the corner of our our lot could uproot themselves join in a Pow Wow dance up on the Rez.
  Now is the perfect time to roam the trails out in the national, state and local forests.  A four wheel drive vehicle with decent road clearance (and some trail maps) are all one needs.  And there will be no traffic jams while leaf-peeping.
   In New York we called them witches' cairns; I don't know if they have a name hereabouts, but the one pictured is way out in the boondocks.  i don't know who bothers to do this, maybe it actually is the witches.