The title of this post refers to my gratitude that fall is here at last. Mosquitoes: gone. Tourists: mostly gone. Humidity: gone, and with it, months of sweaty, annoying bad hair days. The dog is perkier, too.
The stuff growing on the boulder in the above photo is rock tripe. The settlers used it to dye cloth purple. It is often found with lichen. There was plenty of it to admire on my hike today, this time in RI on the Vin Gormley trail.
It was a perfect early fall day. The swamp maples were at their best. So fiery.
The trail is rather long and varied. We always admire the escarpments, remnants of the glacier that receded about 12,000,000 years ago. I wonder if animals sleep in the small caves. They do look cozy.
I found this weird. I couldn’t tell if it was natural, or if someone had just stuck an interesting piece of wood onto a stick. Either way it was kind of creepy.
The winterberry is awesome this year.
Digging RI 
What a wonderful way to spend some time! It looks like it was a beautiful day when these lovely photos were taken. Autumn is the best time to be out enjoying all that Mother Nature has to offer. The air is crisp, and the gorgeous fall shades make for great eye candy!
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Yes. Autumn is definitely my fave season for all those reasons, and more.
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Very much enjoyed your hike through the woods today. Thank you. Lesley
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Thanks, Lesley. I was glad to be able to share it with my readers.
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You asked about praying mantises the other day, so here are some pictures of a beaut from the garden.
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I just checked them out. What an amazing insect. Great photos, Andy.
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What’s not to love about autumn in New England. Here’s to a great leaf season for you, with a minimum of disruption by the leaf peepers. Hey, I love that creepy stick with the wood on top thing.
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Hah! Why am I not surprised that you’d like the stick? I’m really not sure if it was created by nature or humans. It was hard to tell.
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