At last a crispness has filled the air, the tension from the heat has broken and you can almost feel the Earth sigh in relief.

I took a stroll yesterday and was swept up by the whirl-wind of falling leaves surrounding me. Autumn is a time of harvest and preparation, traditionally preparing and preserving food to last through the winter until once again the weather breaks and spring appears once more; more than that though autumn is a time of transformation - as the caterpillars shed their familiar forms to turn into a cocoon filled with pieces and parts - morphing, changing - to emerge anew as a butterfly; as the trees understand when the time comes to let go of things that no longer serve them; it is a time to reflect and let those things in your life fall away while you work towards becoming your best most true self. 
Allow yourself this time.

Welcome autumn. 

With the bog being the first place to show signs of spring, it's only natural that it would be the first to show signs of fall. 
The fiddleheads stretching and growing from the snow covered ground, expanding into large lush cinnamon ferns, shading the sphagnum and other mosses, now turning bright oranges and reds as summer makes way for autumn. 

Yes, it's that time once again! Beginning in March of this year I have taken a photo of the hill along the Trilium Trail at Spangler (Wooster Memorial Park) from the same location on (more or less) the same day of each month, while noting the changes to the hill, what's blooming, what's dying, how it all works together. This project has been more rewarding than I could have imagined as I've not only gained the knowledge of a great variety of plants, but I've also watched their life-cycles; what grows fast then dies out, what stays for the whole year, how different plants work with and against each-other. If you're reading this I hope you've also been as awestruck as I have, or at the very least amused! 
September's hill is growing sparser in plant coverage, the majority of greenery is the Waterleaf, and nearer the bottom of the hill the nettles. Hidden amongst the remaining leaves theres a whole world of mushrooms emerging ready for their time in the -er- shade. While July and August were quite similar in appearance, September is showing the first signs of the approaching fall. 

While in the woods, the flowers have finished their blooming cycles, but the mushrooms have begun theirs!