Yesterday’s rain rising as early morning steam

Yesterday we had a storm. Autumn winds and pelting rain whipped the trees, stripping out some of the yellows and high reds. We are on the downside of peak color.

The polar vortex is weak this year, its perimeter winds at a mere 60 miles per hour. That’s barely enough to keep the cold artic air from spilling out across the landscape. With this weak spin, we can expect repeated cold spells this winter–one coming as early as later this week. So I’m enjoying the last of the color now.

I try to capture it in photos–but the ridge across the valley is too vast for me to get a handle on it. The pictures do not show the beauty and range that you get with the eye. So I’ll try with these closer shots.

Maybe intimate is the way to seize the moment of a turning autumn. Soon it’ll be snow, and an entirely different landscape and rhythm.

Out our north window.