Into the Green Pennsylvania Woods

One of the things I enjoy about the week of the Grange Fair is that it signals the end of summer, and the start of fall. I can't say I approve of the fact that the light is fading much more quickly in the evenings now - no, no, I don't! - but I love the first few cool mornings with a fierceness. Listen, can you hear it? Can you smell it? Can you feel it? Autumn is coming!

And so with one of our first cool mornings in a while, my husband and I skipped our usual swimming adventures and headed deep into the heart of Sproul State Forest, to a spring we know in the woods. The water is cold and clear and clean there, and you can dip your cup in and drink deeply of its goodness. Just-Wa, my husband calls it: just water, with nothing extra in it.

There is also moss galore, in every shade of extra-green. For it has been rainy here all summer, and there is more water than usual; and everything is greener than it typically is in August. Above is a photo of the water as it left the spring and headed for the creek; let me point out that this spot is excellent for wading! But be warned, for the water is bone-chillingly cold!  :-)

In honor of a land that is 40 shades of green, as ours is right now, here is Johnny Cash, with Forty Shades of Green. (Yes, I know I've used that song before, but it's well worth a repeat!)