On leaves, ladybugs, and other Autumn treasures

Every season has its own special brand of beauty, but nothing quite compares to an October day in Michigan when every color of nature seems especially vibrant and alive.

Skies of blue appear to go on forever, trees are decked out in their finest shades of gold, red, and orange, and the warm yellow sun shines down on green carpet-like lawns and fields of alfalfa.

Sprinkle in just the right measure of southwesterly winds carrying the rich aroma of those falling leaves and other slightly spicy Autumn smells and you have the perfect recipe for a perfect day - like the past several have been here in Clinton County.

While time and other circumstances have delayed our annual 'color tour' up north, I did manage to corral Mom and Dad into the car this past Wednesday for an abbreviated cruise along some local byways - specifically in and around Maple Rapids which will be the first stop in the village/city portion of the County Road series.

Not all the lovely maple trees in the village had turned, but there was certainly enough brilliance to make the trip worthwhile. It was a thoroughly enjoyable visit - so much so that I ran out of film and had to make a pit stop at Dewey's. How I wish we would have had a cooler in the car - it was awfully hard walking out with only camera film in hand when the pungent aroma of smoked meats filled the air.

Next time.

We lengthened the journey a bit by heading west to visit the 'border' villages of Hubbardston, Matherton, and Pewamo - all of which will be mentioned in a sidebar to the Maple Rapids article in next week's paper.

Other signs of the changing season have led to unanswered questions. We'd particularly like to know why there seems to be an over abundance of ladybugs this fall.

As I recall, ladybugs are supposed to bring good luck. If that's the case, Clinton County is most definitely in for a most fortuitous winter.

Seriously, we'd really appreciate hearing from readers who are in the know about the ladybug barrage - give us a call.

Ditto for blackbirds - or starlings, or whatever they're properly called. We've had swarms of the noisy aviators roosting in trees and filling the sky with fluttering wings for the past several weeks.

When Mollie and I were coming up the lane from our walk last night, I felt like I was part of a Hitchcock movie - there must have been thousands of blackbirds flying overhead.

Spooky.

These particular days of October are also noteworthy because of some fine folks who are making our community a fun place to be - both this past weekend and for many, many years to come.

The St. Johns Lions and Lioness Clubs coordinated another pumpkin extravaganza last week, transforming the depot lawn into an art gallery of sorts for the multitude of gourdy creations. Everyone appeared to be having a fine time - thanks, Lions, for all your hard work.

Beginning this Wednesday and continuing through the weekend, Fantasy Forest will come alive at the St. Johns City Park. I must confess that when the idea for the construction of this large-scale playground - done entirely by volunteers - was first floated, I didn’t give it much of a chance for success.

How wrong I was.

The time and effort that has gone into this project is truly extraordinary. If there's some sort of St. Johns volunteer award, the Fantasy Forest committee surely deserves getting it.

Finally, a personal Autumn thank-you to two very special people - who couldn’t be more different, but are equally alike in their ability to create smiles where frowns often exist.

He will be quite unhappy if I mention his name in print, so I'll just thank the Bee(nard) Man for the yummy jars of honey - and the big bag of beans which will become rich and fragrant soup during the cold months ahead. You're the best -and only - bee-keeper I know.

She's not quite two years old, but granddaughter Gwendolyn produced some mighty fine pumpkins this year. She helped Grandma pick 'pupkins' from her 'pupkin patch' last week and enjoyed multiple rides in the wheelbarrow transporting her plump friends from the garden.

There was magic in the pupkin patch that day - all coming from the sparkle in a little girl's eyes.