Autumn Stroll

The autumn colors have peaked in the State College area, and anywhere you go is pretty. Earlier this week, I stopped at the Arboretum in the morning and took some lovely golden photos. But then it snowed that afternoon, and that was the story I just had to tell, instead of showing you all that gold.

So I decided to go back and give the golden pictures another shot, so to speak. ;-) And so it was that on this morning, I drove along Park Ave., turned right onto the first road after the traffic light at the corner of East Park and Shortlidge, and turned right again onto Hartswick Ave., where I had immediate access to the lane you see in the photo above.

Back in the 80s, when I was a student living in North Halls, there was a sign at the end of this lane that said Lisnaward, for that was what it was called back then. But now it's called the Schreyer House, and it is the property where the PSU President lives. To the left, you can see a wonderful fence row; if you walk through that open gate just beyond the trees, you can go and visit the Arboretum (as I often do!).

The physical plant employees take their leaf removal seriously, and I seldom get to see this lane with leaves strewn across it. But apparently my timing was good. I must have gotten there between shifts. For there they were: golden orange leaves down, all over the road.

This tree row is lovely in any season and in any weather. But it is especially spectacular in the fall, and every year in early November, the golden color peaks here. I am watchful. I keep an eye on the weather and the wind. I stalk the colors.

I show up many days in a row, sometimes multiple times in the same day, taking similar shots over and over, waiting for the show to be at its "best." You could call it an obsession. My husband and I call it "chasing the colors."

The soundtrack: Cyndi Lauper, with an acoustic version of True Colors.