Special Fall Color - The Survivors

I want to share a special bit of fall color from you.

I was inspired in part by a blog post about the healing power of nature in relation to 9/11.

So many people this year were hit by tragic weather.  Extreme drought, extreme heat, wildflowers, and in the case of my Binghamton, NY area, flood.  In fact, today we didn't miss drenching rains by very much.  My heart goes out to you all.  You are all survivors.

The first two fall color photos were taken within walking distance of my house.  These photos were taken on October 11, the one month anniversary of our return (spouse and I) back to our evacuated neighborhood - on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

This is a burning bush.   The top portion shows lovely fall color.  The bottom shows mud still, after a month (and a lot more rain), coating the plant.  It's hard to see the scale of this, but I can assure you this is a tall burning bush.

Nearby, what is probably a knockout rose wasn't knocked out.  It wasn't even down for the count.  Bloom, rose, bloom!

Next, I travel to the Vestal Rail Trail, also on October 11.  One part of the trail runs besides a neighborhood called Twin Orchards.  Twin Orchards was one of the hardest hit of the flooded neighborhoods.  Besides water, and lots of it, they had to cope with raw sewage.  Part of the trail was closed for a few days.

There are many sumacs on the trail, and I was hoping to get some good color pictures.  But many of the sumacs were drooping, dying.  However, these survivors proudly held their red leaves up for my camera.

Finally, I "think" this is Virginia creeper.
Appreciating the beauty of our area is one way we can allow ourselves to heal.
Although, guess what it is doing this morning - yes, it is raining.