Autumn moments are captured in photos this week, as leaves finally change color and begin to fall to the ground, here in Northeastern Washington.
Surrounded by ancient evergreen forests of Ponderosa Pines, our deciduous trees sparkle with orange, yellow, and red.
If you stay still for a moment, you can hear the winds soughing through the trees, a gentle murmur of leaves whispering their gentle lullaby.
Even the weeds (herbs) have something to sing about. These mullein plants can grow over six feet tall. Mullein leaves are used medicinally in tea to help with respiratory issues.
The Oldest Living Species of Trees on Earth
When I lived in Sacramento and taught courses at Sacramento State University, I was transfixed every autumn when the ginkgo trees began to turn yellow.
The Ginkgo biloba is one of the oldest living tree species in the world. It’s the sole survivor of an ancient group of trees that date back to before dinosaurs roamed the Earth – creatures that lived between 245 and 66 million years ago. Source
Last year, we acquired our own ginkgo tree that lives happily in our backyard, and is currently fenced against neighborhood deer. This tree should be happy here, planted on the land around Nine Mile Falls, which was shaped by ancient lava flows from the Columbia River.
“The Ginkgo tree is so ancient, the species is known as a ‘living fossil’.” ~ Yale Botanist Peter Crane
“October, baptize me with leaves! Swaddle me in corduroy and nurse me with split pea soup. October, tuck tiny candy bars in my pockets and carve my smile into a thousand pumpkins. O autumn! O teakettle! O grace!” – Rainbow Rowell
Not autumn where you live? Don’t despair! If you are participating in the photo challenge, show us your SPRING plant life! Just for fun, here is one of mine:
Sharing this week for Dawn’s Festival of Leaves-Week 4, Johnbo’s Cellpic Sunday, and Lens-Artists – Ancient.
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 from mine.
- Please create a new post for the theme or link to 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.
If you are participating in the photo challenge, I look forward to seeing 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. Join me next week as we explore “SCARY,” just in time for Halloween. 🎃
“I cozy up to autumn’s trees. Fall asleep to the lullaby of windblown leaves.” ~ Angie Weiland-Crosby
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