The week has been magnificent, and I can say that I have been blessed this year to have 2 Falls -- one in Colorado, and one here in North Carolina. This is my favorite time of year, and the one I fine the most fun. I hope you enjoy the gallery -- more to be added soon. I just got back from HHI, and have another week of Fall here it looks like...

By the way, the shots following the 2 ladybug macros, that look like nothing form the thumbnail, are shots of SWARMS of ladybugs -- millions and millions of them. They viciously attacked me and tried to carry me away, but fortunately I've grown too fat as of recent. ;) The ladybugs, we believe, are part of an attempt to control the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, which, like the Chestnut Blight several decades ago, is promising to wipe out the targeted species: in this case Hemlocks. Enjoy the dark, foresty green Hemlocks while you can -- they're not long for this world. When this happens, and the hemlocks are gone, streams will warm up significantly, and there will be no more (or far fewer) Mountain Trout, and I’m sure will have other tremendous impacts we’ve not even thought of. Like when the American Chestnuts disappeared, and the forest floor which had once been nature’s plate of food abundance to animals (bears, deer, humans, etc.), we find that the woods today are far less intimidating and mysterious than they were in the times of the Settlers and the equally extinct American Indians. We’ve sure made a mess of this world.