Yellow maple leaves
Terri Webster Schrandt

Sunday Stills: Someone Planted a #Tree

“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” Warren Buffett

If you’re participating in the Sunday Stills photo challenge, this week’s theme is LEAVES AND TREES.

As humans, are we truly grateful for trees?

For those of us who love nature, each season brings expectations that the weather will behave a certain way, the air temperatures will be mild, and we’ll be awed by the beauty of plants, trees, and landscapes that set a mood.

For example:

We love the changing leaves and colors in the autumn.

Rural Autumn Path
Rural Autumn Path

In the summer, we enjoy the shade trees provide as a respite from the heat.

Rural road walk
Early morning summer walk

In the winter, we mourn the loss of the leaves…

Bare White Winter Trees

But with great anticipation, we greet the buds and new life in the springtime.

Dogwood Tree Pretty in Pink
Dogwood Tree Pretty in Pink

Aren’t we blessed to have trees for all seasons?

“Learn character from trees, values from roots, and change from leaves.” ~ Tasneem Hameed

Climate change continues to alter our seasons. In Eastern Washington, another hot summer has morphed into a warm autumn, delaying the changing of leaves into their spectacular fall colors. By now, on the Centennial Trail, we would see the Aspens in much more golden splendor.

Deep Creek Steel Bridge Autumn
Deep Creek Steel Bridge late September 2023

In the last few years we’ve lived here, autumn seems to show up early one year but later another.

Last year, on September 30th, I posted this image for the last on the card hosted by Brian at Bushboys World. The young maple trees were already blushing profusely.

Harvest Festival maple trees and pumpkin patch
Last on the Card Harvest Festival, 2023

As this week begins, with temperatures in the low 70sF (21C), our trees still hang on to their green leaves.

Gold and green at Deep Creek Bridge

Lest you think I complain, I eagerly anticipate autumn each year. After years of enduring hot, dry Augusts in Washington and Sacramento, I’m always in the mood for cooler temperatures and colorful leaves.

But why can’t I have THIS now??

Golden larch rural street
November 2021

Nevertheless, each season brings its charm and splendor. I shot this from my backyard a few days ago.

October Sunset
October Sunset

“Summer mourned her final days amidst her wildflowers and bouquets.” ~ Angie Weiland-Crosby

That same day, I turned around and saw the alpenglow on the hills to the northwest. Kinda purty, eh?

Sunlit Pines
Sunlit Pines

Okay, okay. I will appreciate what I have while I wait for Miss Autumn to appear.

“Life is full of awe and grace and truth, mystery and wonder. I live in that atmosphere.” ~ Dion DiMucci

rust brushstroke

Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders

The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post. Please use your own original images, whether new or from your archives.

  • Remember to title your blog post a little differently than mine.
  • Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
  • Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
  • Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
  • Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
  • I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.

Sharing this week for Cee’s FOTD (leaves), Dawn’s Festival of Leaves, Johnbo’s Cellpic Sunday, and Lens-Artists: Setting A Mood.

I can’t wait to see how you interpret this week’s theme! Creativity is encouraged, so please share your own photographs (old or new), poems, original short stories, and music inspired by the theme.

Due to travel, there will be no Sunday Stills challenge on October 13. We’re heading to the North Cascades of Washington (Winthrop and Mazama) for a family wedding, and we’ll have more about that soon!

I’ll LEAVE you with this as a reminder of what will come when Autumn finally falls!

Autumn leaves

“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees.” – Henry David Thoreau

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143 comments

  5. What a beautiful post and so vibrant in nature’s glory. Also, the quote from Tasneem Hameed was reflective of how our journey mirrors that of nature’s simplicity. Thank you for sharing and I look forward to reading more of your work.

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  21. Beautiful autumn photos, Terri. I love the golden larches – something we don’t have here. 🙂 Yes, the leaves seem to be changing late this year, but I’m hopeful we’ll have some glorious color before long. And the cooler weather seems to be on its way… finally.

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  23. Autumn arrived early in my part of the world, Terri. The leaves are already falling. We’ve been out quite a few times to sweep them up, but there are still many more to fall. I’ve just come back from a walk (after getting my flu jab), and the colours are amazing this year. And it’s cold enough now to wear a quilted jacket and hat without feeling too warm. I always like it when Autumn stays longer with us. It’s getting proper hot chocolate weather.

    I hope your autumn colours accelerate soon so you can benefit from them. With the longer nights, I’m sure it will be soon that the autumnal colours come to their peak.

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    • I can always tell when fall falls, when my neighbor’s maples turn red. Still green, but our three young maples are beginning to blush. My neighbor has a consistent watering schedule, as do we, and I wonder if that helps keep them green. Another neighbor’s young maple is already red!
      I’ve been ready for autumn since early September. We hope to see some colors on our trip to the Cascade Mountain range that begins tomorrow. Hot cocoa sounds amazing!
      We had another huge northern lights show two night ago. I could actually see the red colors with my own eyes. One way to see red I suppose.
      Have a wonderful week. On a short break!

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  42. I enjoyed how you went through all the seasons, showing the appreciation of our beloved trees and leaves. Such gorgeous photos!

    We, too, are late this year seeing the leaves turn. A warm September and now October has caused the leaves to stay green. However, that may change after this week. Cold temperatures are arriving.

    Happy October, dear friend!

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  50. Terri,

    I’m eager for Fall and your pictures have amped that up big time. Our leaves are turning in the Smoky Mountains, but the floods of Hurricane Helene have closed (or destroyed) many of the roads into the mountains. Nevertheless, we’ll still have color. Our Dogwoods are turning, but they’re a bit droopy from the summer heat. My contribution is a sample of the color at higher elevation in Eastern Tennessee. Have a great week and enjoy the wedding–and the reception. Joe

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  53. You had some great quotes here Terri and of course great photos as well, especially those of past, more normal Autumns. The beautiful foliage and reflections is one of the many bonuses of Fall, besides the chill in the air and flannel. 🙂 We also have Summer-like temps lingering on – as I write this comment it is 77F having reached 79 earlier today. I walked, but at the time the winds were gusting mightily at 25 – 28 mph. Not enjoyable and it was bringing down a lot of leaves – brown, withered leaves. I saw perhaps two Maples in the Park that normally turn color early and they had just a hint of color, so unless we get a cold spell soon to make the leaves turn, it won’t happen. My neighbor had Bradford Pear trees hang onto to their leaves until Winter and these dark purple-ish colored leaves dotted the snow most of the Winter.

    Here is my Leaves and Trees post:

    Fabulous Fair Lane in the Fall.

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    • Thank you, Linda! Autumn’s had a slow start this season, but each day brings cold nights and a few minutes less sunlight which should get tose colors popping soon! I can’t believe I’m still watering all of my trees in October!

      I hope to see some autumn colors on Thursday as we travel 4 hours northwest to the Cascades for an extended weekend. The wedding is in the small town of Mazama at 3000 feet elevation. I’m taking the rest of this week off other than to reply to comments from today’s post! Have a great week and here’s wishing you some Autumn colors soon!

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      • We are still pretty dry here, with no rain in sight for awhile, unless Hurricane Milton affects us like Helene did. I hope you get to see some autumn colors on your trip Terri. Safe travels!

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  54. This next week heralds a return to cooler temperatures (22C) and rain, Terri, which is unfortunate as I have Polish family visiting. Any other time I would be celebrating. Have a fabulous wedding celebration!

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  56. What a great idea to show Nature’s mood with the changing seasons! I loved these photos and could almost feel the coolness in the air (we’re still having temperatures in the 90s in Texas).

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  60. Hi Terri! Our trees in Mid-Michigan are still green. Some of the maples have some red at the top, but otherwise… no color! I’m mourning autumn. It’s still pretty warm. We’re 75 F today. Until those temperatures drop, the leaves will keep hanging on.

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      • We’ve been so warm at night. I only stopped using the air conditioning a couple days ago. We do have some cooler nights coming. Good. I’m ready. I actually have windows open right now and it’s quite nice. Have a great week, Terri. 🌻

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  64. Hi Terri, all your quotes are so applicable to your post and your tree superb! The dogwood is a favourite as I’m waiting for mine to flower at home. I agree with you about appreciating each season for what it can offer us and enjoying the changes as they come. Thanks for the inspiration to post this week. It’s been a wet Sunday afternoon here so I’ve managed to put a post together.

    Enjoy your time away.

    My post is here: https://debs-world.com/2024/10/07/appreciating-trees-and-leaves-a-dendrophiles-delight-sundaystills/

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    • Thank you, Graham! I’ve really learned to appreciate them now, especially when we moved onto this raw property with zero trees. We’ve planted 22 so far. Not much shade on the house yet… Yes! The Methow Valley! I knew you would be familiar with the area. Looking forward to camping at the KOA along the Methow River.

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  70. Loved your post this week Terri, thanks for adding it to our challenge. Yes Mother Nature seems a bit undecided this year – even here in the south. Whatever she offers there is something to love. Just this week I saw the first few sprigs of pink sweetgrass pushing through the greenery. The key is to appreciate each change as it happens – as you clearly do! Although Trees are not the subject of my post this week, they’re nestled into my moods so I’m linking to it here https://travelsandtrifles.wordpress.com/2024/10/05/lens-artists-challenge-319-setting-a-mood/

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