A Sunday Drive and A Monday Moon

We took a day off to drive up into the woods above us and check out the roads in our Christmas Bird Count sector. The CBC is not until Dec. 14 but it was a beautiful dry (as usual this autumn) day and we wanted to know what condition the roads were in. They were in great condition, as it turned out, and the vine maples along the trickle of a Yoncalla Creek were spectacular. I took lots of photos.

 A new trail has been cut down to the top of the Upper Yoncalla Falls. Why, I don't know since you can't see the falls from the top. But it's a pretty walk.

With lots of color...

And interesting fungal growths on an old alder...

A different sort of fungus, or one at a different stage, was at the bottom of the tree...

 There were not so many colorful maples higher, in our CBC sector. But the roads were open with no trees down across them. There were new-to-us forest roads through thinnings with more muted color below the trees...

 The next day, Monday, it was back to work. Johnny spent the day repairing a broken something-or-other under his van. I spent it finishing cleaning the buck pen.

That night the moon had a rainbow encircling it. As usual, my camera refused to pick up the ring of color. I guess you need a special filter. But I kept trying...

update... I have since learned that my camera is just fine. There was no rainbow around the moon. It was my cataracts creating that lovely color. I am scheduled to have my cataracts removed after the first of the year. The world is becoming blurry... as well as oddly colorful.

The full moon is supposed to be on Wednesday but it sure looked full to me this Monday night.

I can see the man in the moon in these photos.

I panned out again to try to get that colorful ring... almost here but it had many colors and was farther out.

As clouds moved in, my camera caught the colors that were in the ring and transposed them to the clouds. Somehow.

 There was still a lovely rainbow around the moon but in my photos it just looks to be exploding. (See update above: no rainbow, just cataract deception)

Nevertheless, it was a beautiful moonlit evening in this last day before the rains are supposed to begin... and a most colorful fall.