FALL COLORS ARE BEGINNING, AND BAD NEWS COMES IN BUNCHES

THE COLOR IS DEFINITELY DEVELOPING...

...IN THE NORTHERN HALF OF WISCONSIN

CLEARING FOG

Sunday, 9:00 AM.  64 degrees F at the ferry dock, 68 on the back porch.  Wind SSW, calm at present.  The sky is partly cloudy but clearing, the humidity 95%.  The barometer is diving, now at 29.93".  The high today will be in the low 80's,  then dropping into the 60's and lower. Thunderstorms are predicted for Monday and Tuesday.  I awoke to the persistent, plaintive call of the fog horn this morning, and the heavy fog is just now clearing.
   We traveled to Wautoma, Wisconsin, for a cousin's funeral on Saturday. The fall colors are definitely developing in the northern half of the state, but are not anywhere near their peak.  Red maples are blazing away, sugar maples and poplars beginning to show color. Ferns and shrubs are coloring up, and asters are blooming everywhere.  Oaks are still mostly green, as are the tamaracks. And right here by the big lake the color has just barely begun, although it looks like it will be a beautiful fall. 
   We have had a spate of deaths in my extended family, since  many of us are getting ancient, but each funeral or memorial service provides an opportunity to reconnect with others we have lost touch with, and youngsters we have never seen. The funeral parlor was alive with children, which gives us old folks great comfort.  There is no more welcome sound at a funeral than a fussy baby, or a noisy toddler.
   When we got home the phone was beeping; the message?  Our good friend Andy Larsen, as fine a naturalist as Wisconsin has to offer, had just passed away.  
   Bad news comes in bunches.

ANDY LARSEN,..NATURALIST, TEACHER, FRIEND