19 October 2012 - Looking for the Cricket

I have such a hard time in October. It is a push-pull happy-sad time of the year.  The color change is gorgeous, but all my flowers are fading and are at the end of their short but previously glorious lives. The grass is green and lush--best it has looked all year--yet it is getting covered with falling leaves and the trees are rapidly being undressed by the breeze.  Any waft of air causes a yellow rain. That is so sad. 

The sun has moved far enough south that we are now shaded until 9:30 to 10:00 am, since it has to poke up over higher peaks. All things pointing to winter and cold. And speaking of cold, we have had several light frosts, and chilly days. Yes, we finally turned the furnace on. 

But today, I want to find the cricket. Somewhere in the front yard, most likely on the house and well protected in the ivy there is one lone cricket and he is singing loudly enough to hear his song inside. I can even hear him when I'm in the backyard. 

Have you ever tried to sneak up on a cricket?  It ain't easy. I've come close, too close for him, and he'll stay quiet until I leave. Now it is just the principle of the thing. Where the heck is he? I'm not complaining at all about the constant thrum of his chirping. I find it comforting. It's just that I really wonder where he is.  

After the last 15 minutes of standing in front of the kitchen windows, trying to follow the noise, it dawned on me that this is probably not a cricket, but a katydid. A green katydid would be even harder to find than a cricket.  You can see how hard it would be to find a cricket or a katydid among those leaves. 

Meanwhile our world is changing rapidly. The aspens on Mt. Olympus are glowing gold and the lower elevation brush is red. Heartbreak red since it will not last much longer.  This north east facing side of the mountain only gets late afternoon sun now, and the low slanting sun really makes the colors pop. 

The peaks in the morning are mysterious. Usually shrouded in mist or fog until the sun rises high enough to burn it off. I love these mountains. Love how they change with the time of day, the time of year, and weather. 

 Here I'm looking across the street in early afternoon. We had a very fast isolated shower move in. The clouds piled up on the tops and after the rain left, they were decorated with mist.