Not All Fall Seasons are Created Equal...

Not all seasons are created equal in Missouri. We never know what to expect from Mother Nature, one year to the next, in this middle of nowhere state.

Winters can be knee deep in snow for months at a time, or mild with only a little snow scattered here and there.

 Spring can arrive early and stay late. It can rain all season giving farmers nightmares trying to plant their crops; or winter can linger through Spring and suddenly jump to a mild start of Summer omitting  most of Spring all together. Turkey's seldom know when to mate. They just take their best shot and hope for the best.

Summers in Missouri are always humid. The kind of humid that greets your skin at 7 a.m. and licks it furiously all day. People wait for sunset and hope for a slight wind to erase a miserable day. On occasion, the Summer of 93, it started raining one night in early June and did not stop for months. We also have had summers where the heat and drought were so horrible, people had to sell most of their animals because they could not produce enough food for them that early in the year. The fields were burning up as they tried to grow.  Farming is a gamble in Missouri.

The Fall of 2012 was exceptionally beautiful. The colors were vivid, bold and beautiful. The oranges, the reds, and the gold vied for they eye's attention as the leaves began to change. The most  amateur of  photographer's captured amazing photos. The trees begged to be photographed daily.
                                             

As far as I was concerned,  the tree at the right was the most beautiful autumn tree in Callaway County last year.  This year not so much. If it peaked it must have done it the week I was in California. It looks nothing like the photo this year. 

The fall of 2013 has slipped in, quietly. The trees were slow to change colors. The boldest, by far, have been the oak trees. Their million shades of yellow have lit up the somber forests. Last week, red maple trees seemed to burst out for a few days. There are multitudes of green trees, slowly turning brown. 

The soft maple tree in my front yard is loosing her leaves. There is a tinge of yellow to the tree but it is predominately going from green to brown instead of showing off as she usually does in her dress of yellow ochre.

Tomorrow we are going to ride the back roads again. There are a few creeks I want to check out and see how the colors are reflecting in the water. I am still in search of the prettiest tree in Callaway County. So far, nothing I have seen has beaten the beauty of the Fall of 2012. I am still searching and it is still October. Missouri may pull it off yet, however this year I have my doubts.