Ahead of a Cold Front

Friday, November 23, 2012

San Antonio River, Mission Reach, Mission Rd Trailhead upstream

Today"s photos:

Technically, the leading edge of a cold front had passed through Bexar County before I arrived at the Mission Rd Trailhead, but the higher winds and cooler temperatures didn't arrive until much later in the day. It turned out to be a far more pleasant day for a walk than had been forecast.

Typical of most of my San Antonio River posts, this is a sample of the photos I took today. There will be at least two additional posts from the remaining photos.

Autumn in South Texas

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Other than Lost Maples State Natural Area, South Texas isn't known for colorful fall foliage. However, some years in some locations the golden-yellow of the fall elm and the reds of the red oak and flaming sumac can be quite spectacular. The bright orange berries of yaupon and red berries of possumhaw provide an additional burst of color.

The Salado Creek Greenway North, Creekbed Trail* is one of the areas that is a color binge right now. These photos were taken on my walk yesterday. They include in the order I encountered them: red oak, flameleaf sumac and possumhaw. There was also some beautiful golden fall elm, but I couldn't find an angle to get good photos of them.

* A note of caution to anyone walking the natural surface trails of the creekways: insect repellent is highly recommended. The mosquitos are also quite abundant now and tend to be more a problem closer to the actual creek beds than to the paved greenway trails.

Thanksgiving 2012

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Salado Creek Greenway North, Voelcker Ln Trailhead, Creekbed Trail

Today's photos:

give thanks always for the precious gift of life

Happy Thanksgiving

Walking With Butterflies, Again

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

This has been a very good year for butterflies in Bexar County. The overwhelming majority of photos that I took on my walk this past Friday, November 16 along the San Antonio River were of butterflies:

"When the time comes, though, [the butterflies] just quietly go off and disappear. I'm sure it means they've died, but I can never find their bodies. They don't leave any trace behind. It's like they've been absorbed by the air. They're dainty little creatures that hardly exist at all: they come out of nowhere, search quietly for a few, limited things, and disappear into nothingness again, perhaps to some other world."  -  Haruki Murakami, 1Q84 #1