After visiting the oncologist today, Garry and I stopped at the supermarket to pick up a couple of things. It’s the end of the month, which means we’re out of money. I figured even so, we could afford the few little items we need.

Across the street from Hannaford, there’s a maple tree. Last year, it was stunning.

This year, the same tree …

This was taken a week ago, so there’s a bit more color now, but not much. On the way to the store from the car, I commented to the woman next to me that the maple tree across the road was scarlet last year at this time.

“Yep,” she says. “Gonna be a brown fall. It’s been so dry.”

“I’ll say,” I reply. “The well is low. We have no water pressure.”

“Tell me about it,” she says, frowning. “It’s supposed to rain tomorrow.”

“So they say. Hope they’re right this time.”

“Don’t we all,” she says, as we go inside and grab a couple of carts.

Garry and I were down at the creek a couple of days ago. It sure didn’t look much like autumn in New England.

This is one of the places we go to shoot often enough that we know all the angles. Where to stand. Where you can safely put your gear down and leave it while you roam.

Every once in a while, we get lucky and we encounter visiting geese or herons. Big birds enhance our shooting experience. Sometimes, we even bump into humans. The last time we were in this park, it was in a sunny day in the middle of May.

The creek was deep and full. Lots of folks were out enjoying the first warm day of the year. Fishing, kayaking, picnicking. And of course, photographing.

No people or birds this day. Just us. The creek is too low for kayaks or fishing. Probably too low for fish to even spawn there — this is normally a spawning area for trout — and that means no water fowl because there’s nothing for them to eat.

The leaves are thinking about changing, but haven’t. Mostly, they are still green with hints of yellow or pinkish red. It is possible we aren’t going to have a really splendid season this year. We’ve had three glorious autumns in a row … perhaps this is going to be a not-so-glorious one.

A beautiful autumn has requisite conditions. Enough — but not too much — rain. A cold snap, at least at night, with temperatures close to freezing at least briefly. But we’ve had almost no rain and it’s very warm during the day. Warm, muggy, partly sunny, slightly overcast. High cloud cover that don’t look promising. It’s gotten cool at night, but not cold.

I would welcome rain. Even heavy, stormy rain that washes the leaves off the trees. I’d rather have a leafless autumn than an empty well.

Categories: #BlackstoneRiver, #gallery, #Photography, Autumn, Blackstone Valley, Cameras

Tags: #Photography, autumn, Blackstone Valley, camera equipment, creek, River