Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Thoughts on a beautiful autumn day in the Shenandoah Valley


Thoughts on a beautiful autumn day in the Shenandoah Valley....

Is it a sign of a bad winter when:

 - snow comes before Halloween?
 - the cedar trees are so loaded with berries that their limbs are weighed down to the ground?
 - there's a bumper crop of acorns and black walnuts?

Hunting season is here and it's that time of year when parts of the Skyline Drive closes at night.

You know it's fall when bear sightings pick up. There's still some beautiful leaf color in the Valley but most trees on the mountain ridges are bare as the autumn of 2011 winds down. It was an extraordinary color season in this part of the Commonwealth, and now that color action is moving eastward toward Richmond and beyond. Have you ever seen Williamsburg in the fall? It's beautiful....

Christmas ads are showing up on the television and, quite frankly, I'm ready. The next seven weeks will fly as we celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's.

The Staunton Christmas parade is Monday, November 28, at 7 pm in historic downtown Staunton. Bundle up and join the fun....

There's a snowstorm today in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and I've enjoyed watching the white stuff pile up. Colorado is special ... I learned to snow ski in Aspen, my sister was married in Boulder, one brother-in-law is from Denver and the other is from Boulder, and I've spent time on the mountain slopes and back roads of Vail, Georgetown, Breckenridge, Colorado Springs, and many other places in that beautiful state.

No more time to waste today ... back to work. Enjoy this gorgeous weather and relish the season! It's autumn in the Shenandoah Valley....

Photo by Lynn R. Mitchell
October 2011

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