Green Lake Color Show

9/27/18 Green Lake

The autumn color show is well under way in these parts. We probably won’t see the peak for another month yet, but last week we had such phenomenal weather that the early trees got a chance to show off. Every year, I notice the same interesting pattern at Green Lake: Identical maples (they look identical to my uneducated eye, anyway) will be standing in a row, receiving the same light, yet some will start turning way ahead of the others. That dark red one near the center of the sketch is always the leader. Several next to it are still bright green.

Something else I’ve noticed this year isn’t typical, but I’m afraid it will become more common in the years to come: Instead of stepping through the color changes from yellow to orange to red, some maples are going directly from green to brownish, and the leaves are already curling. I think they’re distressed from the record-breaking hot, dry summer we had.