"Out & About" Photo Blog: On the Path <br/>September 10th, 2015

Though the path is just across the street from our place, I seem to find it easier these days to find excuses not to go for a walk. I did make it today though.

Harsh light, cluttered backgrounds & tattered plants this time of year, plus trying to hold my shirt-pocket point & shoot steady when I zoom all add up to mediocre results for today. But the pictures do at least show the state-of-affairs for early September.

Before I learned the names of the more common wildflowers, I used to call this the "yellow, purple & white" time of year—Goldenrod, New England Asters & Queen Anne's Lace.

Still lots of green.

But some trees turn earlier than others so there are lots of colorful branches around.

A pretty realistic deer in a yard along the path.

The Himalayan Balsam now have seed pods and some of them are at the popping stage. A gentle squeeze of a pod (the bigger ones are best) and the pod twists & curls and releases its seeds—quite a distance if you pick the right one. They're in the same family as Touch-Me-Not/Jewell-weed and the results when you squeeze a pod are the same. I popped a couple here.

Dog-stangling Vine has spread along much of the path. Its seed pods are long and narrow.

Poison Ivy is changing color too.

This cat came out of the ditch to greet me. He checked me out, discovered that I wasn't anyone he knew, so he went on his way.

Leaves of Coltsfoot—the Dandelion look-a-like from early spring. Some are a foot across, huge compared to Dandelion leaves. The leaf shape is where Coltsfoot got its name.

I've been told that there are 5 types of Goldenrod in our area. I can't tell one from the other, but I'm fine with that.

A backlit Dogwood leaf.

Our neighborhood was built on the site of a former apple orchard. A few apple trees have survived along the section of the path close to home. I've tasted a few of the apples over the years—they're pretty good.