Hello Fall

I remember vividly the fall season when our family lived in Niagara Falls and Wilmington, DE.  Beautiful rich colors of the trees and a trip into Pennsylvania for apples from the farm.  All those vivid pictures stored neatly in my brain from before the age of 10.  To my amazement the tree across our driveway at the ranch in 2010 burst forth color hardly ever seen from a native tree.  Had to document the tree in this glorious color!

I used Papers from Studio Calico, Echo Park and Ruby Rock-it.  Embellishments from Fancy Pants, Prima and Studio Calico.  Stencil from Crafters Workshop, Mists and Paints from Art Anthology and Tattered Angels.  Inks from Tim Holtz Distressed Line.

Looking in the distance across my neighbor's pasture is pretty green trees!  I thought while at the ranch this weekend I would take the photo of the same tree this year just a few days over three years.

This time you see dead trees in the back of the tree and water.  In 2010 our neighbor built a tank and chose not to cut the trees down in part of the area where the water would back up.  A common practice to allow cover for fish.  As you can see the grass is shorter and the tree just turning color.

At the same time I am reminded that the early fall rains we have had in abundance I might add have allowed for rye grass to come up and given the summer grasses somewhat a spurt of growth in the warm days of October this year.  Yet you do not see the tall summer grasses we had in fall of 2010.  2011 would put my world to a test that it had not seen since the droughts of the '30's and '50's.  The old timers around town would say the summer of 2011 was far worse then the Dust Bowl.  And it certainly claimed many trees.  Somehow this tree survived.

You can see the damage the drought caused as it fought to survive and did.

Living in my world at the ranch is an amazing one.  Like wishing I had the camera as I sat in the Kawasaki Mule and some movement caught my eye of a baby skunk within arms reach waddling by as if he owned the world back in 2007.  Or would have that youngster given me a spray I would never forget!  And I could list many more treats I get to see.  Life is very constant, my world moves in circles from one season to the next, one calving season to the next, from birth to death of a tree, an animal, or the garden. The cycle never ceases and the circle always begins again.  It's a constant I can count on never changing.  I wouldn't trade my life as a rancher for anything in the world.

I used my Mother Nature I put together for CKCB.  Do check what others have created with their kits.  I would also like to thank deanna13, a member of ACOT's community for the pointing me to the Creative Scrappers Sketch #255 for my inspiration.

May each of you have a blessed day!