A New View of Skeleton Trees

I'm riding on J Avenue, on my way from MMU to the Cedar River Trail.  This oak in Daniels Park is without leaves, now, but a raven and other birds are it's fall fruits.

Now that Halloween is almost here, the trees are starting to look skeletal.  A few have leaves still clinging, but mostly, fall is done falling.  Hills that were splashed in color a week ago are drab and grey and brown.

I think one reason I bike is that I just enjoy being outside—the fresh air, the sun, the breeze, the trees and flowers and other plants.  So I do enjoy biking more when the world is green and birds are plentiful and things slither and buzz and hop in the woods.

We’re arriving at the brown time of year.  On the one hand, I don’t really mind.  I do like seeing the outline of hillsides that are normally hidden in the woods, the shape of the trees is interesting and I don’t mind the slightly odd experience of actually seeing the interstate traffic through the trees, rather than merely hearing it as you do on many stretches of the Cedar River Trail when the leaves provide more screening.

Still, it will be nice when the green returns.

The ride was a bit windy and raw today—cool and frosty in the morning, and it did not feel a whole lot warmer in the afternoon.  But, I had my biking jacket and warm socks on.  I was comfortable.

Yet, I do feel compelled to ask.  Is it spring yet?