Seasonal changes and musings

We've had a long extended fall season, with colorful leaves persisting for weeks.

The ginkgo leaves are at their peak now, with an beautiful golden color.  They'll all drop any day, but they're glorious while they're here.   The dogwoods, even in spite of their drought-stressed summer, are putting on a show of reds and oranges.

The kids I had outside in a program today delighted in the perfect fall weather, which was clear and cool, following several rainy days.

We discovered fall fruits and seeds (having them squish them between their fingers is always interesting - I demonstrate- -- are they sticky, indicating sugars, or smooth, indicating lipids, how many seeds are in each fruit, etc.?)

Who eats them?  Oh, they're poisonous, many kids say when looking at red fruits.

Hmm, why do you think red fruits are 'poisonous', I ask, after some 'wait' time.  Hmm, what eats these berries or fruits?  And we talk about the virtues of being sugary or being lipid-rich. I finally explain that red fruits are basically signaling 'I'm ready to eat.'

Aha!