The Autumn It Was Ugly

Nov
2

West Virginia is known for its beautiful fall colors.
autumn1
Luckily, that fame is not predicated on this fall.

This fall’s autumnal display putting Casper to sleep.
autumn3
Oh, sure, there’s the occasional spot of vivid color.
autumn4
But overall it’s quite disappointing. The leaves just turn brown and FALL OFF. That’s it. No colorful fireworks in the woods. Nothing. Like, Autumn just quit, took her job and shoved it.
autumn7
But with the lack of rain all summer and most of the fall, I guess it’s not surprising that this is the ugliest fall I’ve seen in the 10 years that I’ve lived here.

However, one thing is the same as always. THE LADYBUGS ARE BACK.





Comments

  1. outbackfarm says:

    Same here in N. Ga. We are 17 inches below normal here. No ladybugs yet, but the Boxelder bugs are EVERYWHERE! Then and stink bugs.

  2. jamitysmom says:

    We were thinking that we would have less color this year because of the lack of water but in our area but we were pleasantly surprised. It’s been beautiful. Just winding down now. Love this time of year!

  3. Joell says:

    :happyflower:
    Autumn has been a bit different here as well, we have color but not as profuse as in past year. We have 11 red maples, 2 honey locusts and some willows, lots of leaves and they all were beautiful this year, but the leaves are falling quicker than usual, much to the approval of my Hubby who has been out on his tractor every day mulching them. This has been a crazy year weather wise everywhere—and the bugs, the lady bugs and those awful stink bugs are everywhere, I didnt know what a stink bug was until this year. I am looking forward to a good hard freeze.

  4. mtnmedx says:

    Ohmygoodness! I was reading this post at the speed of light (I HAVE to get supper going) and misread the post as being you had to put Casper to sleep. What! Oh no! How terrible for you! Then I re-read the post. Oh, ok~ Casper was BORED with fall this year and he’s asleep. Fall is just boring. You didn’t have to put your sweet dog down. Whew. What a relief!
    Elizabeth

  5. Old Geezer says:

    Oddly enough, here in CT we are also in drought, but the colors have been bright and lovely. Darn trees have no sense of consistency!

    I have only seen one wooly caterpillar, but it was black at both ends with a wide brown belt in the middle. This is supposed to mean something but I have no idea what. I’m having the snow blower serviced anyway. Meantime we are in November and still in light jackets, if anything. I will enjoy my seaside property when it happens (P.S. unlikely since we are 40 miles inland).

  6. Dana says:

    That is so interesting because we also have ladybugs in the fall in Canada and even all winter coming out in the warmth IN the house. And I am so glad that the first post mentioned those Boxelder bugs because this year there were millions and I had never seen them before, well maybe one, but they were swarming buildings and it was really quite freaky. And I still did not know what they were so just googled the box bug…and that is it. So not sure if this no water summer was good for these bugs or what happened. But it was really crazy and they were only around for about a week which was even more odd.

    Dana

  7. CATRAY44 says:

    Fall came very late in Michigan. We did get color but the leaves are still on the teees for the most part. I can’t remember ever mowing the grass in November, as I did yesterday.

  8. Chic says:

    This was our first autumn in Arkansas and I was expecting a beautiful colorful season…but it wasn’t. I think we may have had a bit more color than you had, but the locals tell me it was ugly. Last year was the same they say…not enough rain when the trees needed it. Let’s hope things are better next year! We also had the lady bugs but they seem to be gone outside. They’re now in my bathroom! :ladybug:

Add Your Thoughts