Monday's Colors

I had mentioned that we've scheduled some Fridays and Mondays off in October. This turns out to be the last October Monday that I'll have off, as I have meetings that mean I must be in the office next Monday.

Reflecting back on my experiences these past weeks, I have to tell you that planning some fun for each and every Monday definitely changes the way you think about Mondays!

And so it was on this day. The morning started out chilly, but it was promised that we'd have warmer temps and tons of sunshine by the afternoon. We left the house around 11 and headed for the woods of Sproul State Forest, determined to pack as much adventure (and colors!) into this day as possible.

When we got there, we discovered we had the woods pretty much to ourselves! (That's one of the bonuses of taking a Monday off - almost everybody else is working!) The sky was a shade of blue that seems to be available only in October's palette. While we found that overall the foliage color in this area had started to fade a bit, there were still some lovely stands of oranges and yellows. The reds are pretty much done by this point in the season.

We parked the car and set out on two short day hikes, the first down to a little abandoned spring and foundation we know that is hidden in the woods, that we hadn't visited in several years. We found things changed: a huge pine tree had fallen and ruined the little wooden bridge and choked the spring.

The remnants of the chimney have finally fallen, the foundation now covered in little pine trees. And the meadow is now host to a very healthy population of poison ivy. In my truffling around, I was delighted to encounter a small snake, most likely a garter, that had been napping in the sun. I guess not everybody minds the poison ivy. (Are snakes immune to poison ivy? Hmm. I guess they must be. Can you even imagine being a snake and getting poison ivy and having NOTHING to scratch it with?)

Anyway, back to the ruined foundation and spring. An object lesson: Time passes. The signs of man fade. Nature takes things over again. You may find this news from the woods comforting, or you may find it worrisome, but there you go: It is what it is. Always has been. Most likely always will be.

The second little hike was out a trail through a sunny meadow bordered by all kinds of trees. We found a tiny pine woods where we set up our chairs and put down our packs, and there I strolled around taking pictures in the sun. This lovely orange tree may have been the prettiest one I found, but there were plenty of yellow ones just as fine.

I returned to my chair to find my husband had set up his iPod and speakers, and he was playing the new playlist we made for him on Saturday, the only day lately that we've spent at home.

There was an outstanding rendition of Voodoo Chile playing, and for a minute I thought it might be Hendrix, but the guitar inflection wasn't quite mournful enough for that. It turns out it was Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble's excellent cover of it. And so on this fabulous sunny Monday afternoon, we took our sweet time, and we sat and watched the Pennsylvania colors turn while we listened to some fine Texas blues.

The soundtrack for this image is Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, with Voodoo Chile. The link I've included is to a live, 15-minute version so you that can actually WATCH Stevie Ray making magic with his guitar while you listen.