Early this past fall I went on a morning walk through a forest only 20 minutes from campus to shockingly see another sunrise. This was my second time going to Horse Mountain. The first time was on a formal hike in a full suit when it was very much too warm for a suit! But this time it was just me in boots, and even those were probably unnecessary.

Along the way to the pictured lookout, we came across this huge mushroom growing out of a rotting log. And so of course a large piece almost a foot across is harvested for a later stew. Called chicken of the woods, it is apparently quite delicious and distinct from the closesly named hen of the woods. Mushroom cookoff in my future?

Anyways, at the lookout while most of the small group was sitting on a ledge overlooking a grand vista with campus in the far background, I was doing my thing. Looking at pretty leaves and figuring out how to frame silouettes. Enjoying the place and time in my own way. The beginning of fall is special because you have the pleasure of seeing each type of tree go one by one through its own unique motions. Some lose their leaves all at once without notice. Others are a multicolored beauty that rain steadily down. And others still feel like an elevator stopping at each floor, with the top of the tree holding out for as long as possible while the rest is long since barren.

Pictured is largely undergrowth, but undergrowth that serves as a frame for the spiderweb creating concentric rings around the background sun. With leaves past their due but holding out for just a little bit longer. Exactly what I love about fall up here.