Dancing Silks

A cold morning in October's middling pages, slanting intense sunlight, bare whiskery trees, deep shadows falling across the trail here and there, a whole world evolving...

The north wind careens through the fields and sets the milkweed in motion. The stalks and pods sway back and forth in unison, disclosing their silken contents, filling the air with diaphanous dancing fluff that looks like small birds in flight, white butterflies or snowflakes.

Below the cavorting milkweed and hugging the ground, the papery lanterns of Clammy Ground Cherry (Physalis heterophylla) are growing fragile and transparent. Looking much like tomatillos, the tiny round fruits are miniature golden suns. Seen through the lacy framework of the enclosing lanterns, the berries are the same blithe color as autumn sunlight and the few bright remaining birch leaves overhead.

Is any of this significant in the greater scheme of things? We walk these trails through the woods and the fields and capture a few images, remark on the changes from a day or two ago and scribble a few notes in a tiny notebook. It matters to us, and it matters greatly.