Fall Colors & Bounty in the Midwest

     Like it or not, the cooler nights and the changing of the leaves are coming.  If you live in an area that Mother Nature presents to you all four seasons, the trees are just starting to show a little color and all the pumpkins in the fields are being gathered up and making there way to the grocers and peoples porches. The sunny days are making way to cooler nights as we ease into Fall.

     Living in the Midwest, the colors of autumn can put on quite a display.  Sometimes right in your own backyard. However, sometimes a weekend trip this time of year is not only a great way to get away for a "mini vacation" but also a great time to soak up the splendor of the colors before the snowflakes fly.  There are so many great places in the Midwest to visit that have the perfect backdrop to display fall foliage. Residents in the northeastern states also have a bounty of colorful landscapes this time of year.  Living in the heart of the Midwest, my focus here is places nearby for Midwesterners. Several Internet searches reveal several options for weekend Fall getaways.  It is amazing that there is even a web site dedicated to fall foliage: 
 www.foliagenetwork.com/ It is a delightful diversion to visit this site and

Insights from the Ghost Trees of Alaska

Petrified trees near Girdwood, Alaska  (photo by Julie Smith)

   Driving along the roadways in parts of eastern Alaska, on odd indication of the 1964 earthquake becomes apparent. The 1964 Alaska Earthquake had a profound impact on the people of Alaska and  left visible scars on the land. Many of the scars and the buildings that were destroyed have long since left from view, but what remains after all these years are the tall trees that stand stark against the blue skies. They stand like soldiers guarding the memory of that terrible day in 1964  and to serve as a reminder to never underestimate the phenomenal power of nature's force. When the quake occurred, sea water came up through the fault flooding the terrain near the trees, but in the same token not uprooting them.  So they not did immediately die, but the sea water caused them to turn to a petrified-state and they remain standing.