Indian Summer Sky

Summer temperatures with these leaves up against the blue sky. Pure joy.

More from the weekend walk

A few more images from the weekend. The kids and I took Katie to a large tree bearing fruits with many names. We decided to call them Hedge Apples (also known as Osage Orange, among others). We brought some home, for fun, and for the promised benefits of fighting off insects and spiders around the house.

From the morning walk

Beautiful fall weather we are having here in Central Ohio. And because it's election season, I am reminded as I walk each block of the streets in Bexley, that I am now living in a purple state. It's my first time voting for a US president. My vote is going to mean more here than the blue states I had lived in previously. Apologies for the poor photo quality. The smart phone does not necessarily allow for good/ smart photography. I will dig up my real camera soon...

Goodbye, September

Oh, what a wonderful Sunday it was. It started out with these... With some of these from our ladies...
 And a visit to a new nook in our city. A little oasis between two highways, literally.
 And now we are enjoying an outdoor dinner, with a fire, to celebrate the end of September.

Here's a cheer to the new month!

Happy October to all.

Transitions

A few shots from my walk with Katie, with the exception of the beautiful striated eggplants from the market yesterday. Fall is all around us now.

The Great Lakes

The Great Lakes live up to their names: they are truly great in size, and beauty. If you didn't know what they were, you would arrive at each one and immediately think that you have reached the ocean. And you wouldn't know that you were wrong until you dip in your finger, and take a taste of the water. It's not salty.



We are living closer to these lakes now, a few of them are just north of us. A couple of weekends ago we were at Lake Michigan. And this weekend, we were by Ontario and Erie. All of them sparkled in the beautiful September blue sky.

Geraniums

Our geraniums on my birthday, a few days ago. Simple beauty that greeted me throughout that day.

By the water

Summer is almost coming to an end... we still have a little time left to find water... any water... lucky for us, we are not too far from the great lakes these days (but far enough that we can't just drop everything and make it a day trip). More great lakes to come in the next couple of weeks... And then it's all about central Ohio and the beauty around here. We will find it, don't you worry.

The Olentangy

The same post appears on Cool Columbus Blog

Another beautiful day. Another morning spent on a river: the Olentangy, this time, at Highbanks Metro Park.



I know, it's embarrassing how long it took us to finally get here. Many people have mentioned this park to us. Many of them very trust-worthy. Molly, for instance, brings her children here, so I know it would be worth the drive from our home in the far Southeast corner of Columbus (to the far Northwest corner)... I know... it's not that far. But I do everything I can to avoid the concrete-ness of the highways.



And yes. It was worth it. It was worth it especially with some friends in tow.



The children spent hours catching and releasing crawdads, fish, and clams. They didn't seem to mind the small amount of water left in the river due from this season's drought. If anything, it was the perfect amount of water for their creeking adventure.

Clear Creek

It was a beautiful day.



A hint of fall is in the air now. One can only guess how long it will last since we have had one of the hottest summers on record.



Never mind the unknown. Our family meeting this Saturday morning concluded with a decision to go somewhere new, somewhere pretty, somewhere preferrably with water. In this case, a clear creek kind of water... however little is left in it after the season's drought.



A little walking in the woods and playing with creatures was just what we needed. We also found plenty of mud (on our shoes), and a lot of crawdads (under rocks).



"We can stay here forever," proclaimed one of the youngest among us. Though we all knew that she didn't really mean it (including the said child herself), it was a sure sign that we were all having fun.



Yes, Central Ohio does have enough to keep us exploring. Today, we found a place equally as pretty as the day itself at Clear Creek Metro Park in Perry County, Ohio.