October, the golden month, has almost arrived. It’s also the month we should not forget the need for situational awareness. A few years ago I failed miserably at practicing situational awareness, and things could have ended badly for me. Keep reading for that informative misadventure. I’ll also share a few words on poison sumac, Eastern massasauga rattlesnakes, and weather awareness.
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Every autumn we sense the excitement of the beginning of a new season. Autumn is the time for nature-embracing explorations into the natural world as nights cool, fantastic forest fungi appear, and mosquito-free trails beckon. I know the time of autumn draws near as energized Eastern gray squirrels gather acorns felled by strong winds. That time is now.
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Honey bees know a good thing when they see one. They found the ten-foot-tall object of my quest first — a cluster of brilliant, yellow, eye-catching flowers that bloomed during the first week of October. The bees were harvesting the bright orange pollen of Jerusalem artichokes for their near final foraging flights of the season. That was almost two weeks ago. I returned a few days ago for the tubers.
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October is a golden month – perhaps the most wonderful month to explore our trails, woodlands, wetlands, and lakeshores. Mosquitos are vanishing, mornings are crisp, and as the season progresses, nature’s way gives life to the words of Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde: “And all at once, summer collapsed into fall.”
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The ephemeral beauty of eye-catching October tree colors faded as the winds of November strengthened. But what a month it was to explore nature’s artistic way in Oakland County and the rest of Michigan. Hikers and trail runners often paused in our parks to observe perhaps the best kaleidoscope of leaf colors in a decade, a gift from Mother Nature that coincided with an equally colorful forest floor display of fantastic fungi. Gone are the bold, brilliant shades of deep orange of sugar maples. Gone are the reddish hues of sassafras, sumacs, and red maples. Gone are the dazzling, wind-driven yellow “sparkles” of aspen leaves that quaked in gusts of wind.
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