The Month of Colors

Bradley Palmer State Park, Massachusetts

October is the month when trees seem to be all in work, preparing for the winter...

It all starts even earlier, says Peter Wohlleben in his book The Hidden Life of TREES. In late summer, the forest is in a strange mood... Exhaustion is setting in, and the trees are waiting for the stressful season to end. They feel just like we do after a busy day at work - ready for a well earned rest... Trees use last warm days to store energy and reserves from leaves. Also, they break down chlorophyll to be stored and reused by the next year's leaves...

As the chlorophyll is pulled out, the leaves change from green to endless shining colors... 
... and the trees are ready for a good winter's sleep...
   ... coloring the world into million blissful breaths...

The Story of Monarch

Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Concord, Massachusetts

It is October on Great Meadows...
... Milkweed seeds are ready to leave... with their silky hairs, waiting for the wind...
   ... and Monarch butterfly comes to mind...

Monarch's life is inspiring storytelling of the nature's basis of being where all of IT matters...

The story begins (and ends) in central Mexico where Monarchs spend winters on just a few mountains in the microclimate of Oyamel (Abies Religiosa) trees. As the spring starts warming northern territories, the butterflies journey up north to Canada in four or five stops. On each stop, Monarch mother lays eggs on the leaves of Milkweeds and ends her life. Milkweeds provide food for her young and give them toxins for protection. In a matter of days, they transform to butterflies and take to the skies until the next patch of Milkweeds...
... and then the next... and the next...
... with the fourth (or fifth) generation of butterflies reaching the final destination.
In the fall, these "super" Monarchs head back to central Mexico by direct flight...
... where their life cycle begins again...

Milkweeds... Milkweeds... the name given to the toxic plants by humans...
... I wonder what is their name given by Monarchs ?...

Art Rumble

Emerson-Thoreau Amble, Concord, Massachusetts

Emerson and Thoreau walked these paths many times... with trees listening...
   Can they tell the story?...

Delicate Landing

Lincoln Conservation Land, Massachusetts

This morning...
... millions shining, absorbing and reflecting the world I haven't seen...

Follow the Road

Grand Manan, Bay of Fundy, Canada

On the road...
... from the end of the Flock of Sheep trail to the point where the hike began...
  ... so clean... and quiet...
  ... flowers along the edge hold my focus... a car passes by here and there...