Here's a few i took today after work. They're alittle grainy after saving them at a much smaller size.
The wind rearranges the leaves all the time. Raking here is mostly a fool's game. The only real way to have no rake leaves is to get a snow fall covering them all. In the spring when they have been compacted down is the only time I can count on them not moving around. That is when I do most of my leaf removal.
One from last year. The sugar maple over the outdoor oven. Even though most of the leaves are down, I like to look at the winterberries that are still on the bushes. Up here in the northeast the bushes are usually in lowlands by swamps and along highways. They have bright red berries that are a sharp contrast to the now, brown landscape.
Thanks Buddy, I totally agree and of course I treat it with the respect it deserves. That pic was taken on the morning I rode up to Epsom circle to meet an old friend who lives in Cornish Me. and rode down to meet me half-way. I have riding friends all over New England, Upstate NY and a lot of the US for that matter and it's always great getting together over pie and coffee and then doing a few miles. I know I am a very lucky guy and I thank my higher power regularly for all the gifts.
I didn't take this, but it is typical of the winterberry that grows wild all around here. There is a lot of it on the adjacent power line. I would show a picture of that, but it don't dare go near it until hunting pseason is over. I used to feel comfortable going there on Sundays (no hunting on Sunday in Maine) but every Sunday I am hearing gunfire so I'll pass for now.