Thanks to the recent rude change of the clocks, daylight is minimal - rushing impatiently to a premature dusk.
The forest trees - even with rapidly dwindling leaves - manage to eclipse most of the sunlight.
The autumn chill has vanished, replaced with a near-tropical warmth and an insolent wind that reminds me of my suffocating days in West Texas.
A feeble, delicate amber light haunts the apathetic afternoons, accompanied by sporadic showers of dead or dying leaves. The strange rotation of earth on its axis yields a surrealistic pallor on this rustic autumnal environment.
Jon, you're damn good even when you don't try
(sorry - I couldn't resist....)
And then the beetles descended from seemingly nowhere. It happens every year at around this time. They resemble lady bugs but they're brown and extremely aggressive. Thousands and thousands of them.
The air is thick with them and they cover the ground. They climb the porch rails and congregate on the eaves. They crowd on window ledges and scale the screens.
They cling to my hair and hide in my clothes. I find them on blankets and bed covers.
Even with windows tightly closed, they manage to get in the house. Last night they were crawling on the kitchen table, the lamp, my laptop....
...and then they quickly die. In a week or so they will be gone.
I hope my autumn foliage photos aren't becoming tedious. Look at the bright side - at least you don't have to trek through the mud and bugs.
With all those beetles, it's like the fly infestation in the Amityville Horror, is your house possessed???
ReplyDeleteLove the yellow leaves lying about.....a great autumnal picture.
My house is possessed with all the joys of Mother Nature. Thank Gawd the beetles will be gone in another week (hopefully....)
DeleteI like those yellow leaves, too, and I'll be sorry when the lovely foliage is gone.
we have the same bug infestation here, only ours are ladybugs. love your description of the 'surrealistic pallor on this rustic autumnal environment.' describes it perfectly.
ReplyDeleteI was in a poetic mood when I wrote that - - which is out of character, considering all the crap I've been going through here lately. I'm usually in a foul mood....
DeleteJohn, I cannot tire of autumn photos --my favorite time of year, when daylight resumes its sanity as nights displace it. We have been getting little beetles too, not in such numbers as you, but enough to make me sorry for their arrested survival skills. I've been going out and collecting tree frogs and placing them where they might huddle under things and conserve warmth at night. They are cold to the touch now and haven't strength to climb into my hand. Some will survive winter --if they figure out daylight is their new hunting season. This morning, I asked Norma if she could make little jackets for them. She thinks I'm crazy. I tell her people thought Dr. Frankenstein was crazy too --oh, on 2nd thought, he was.
ReplyDeleteThanks for making me smile (it ain't easy, Geo).
DeletePerhaps you could open an online store with a new line of clothing for tree frogs. I'm glad you're doing your best to rescue them. Not very many people would be so kind.
Oops, I think I put and extra letter in "Jon". Excuse me.
ReplyDeleteGeo - LONG ago when I got an autograph from Ronald Reagan, he spelled my name "John", too.
DeleteI suppose you're in good company....(*smile*).
And by the way, thanks for your favorable observations of the Chopin Ballade.
DeleteI think I played some of it too fast, but I was anxious to get through it....
I love your foliage pictures. Maybe because we don't see much of that here. The little bugs look like a headache.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Paula. This is definitely my favorite time of year to take photos. Unfortunately the beautiful leaves don't last very long.
Delete
ReplyDeleteUp to ........” this rustic autumnal environment”. Wow, You were really sharpening your literary pencils there, weren’t you? I was hooked! MaggieB
Maggie, I don't get very many "Wows" lately, so I really appreciate it! Perhaps I should sharpen my literary pencils more often (but I'm too lazy...).
DeleteThose brownish-orange "ladybugs" are asian beetles or what I have heard people call Japanese or Chinese ladybugs up here. Only, unlike the red ladybugs, these will bite and stink when you smash them. They are more annoying than the sweet red ones. Karma used to eat them and then throw up. She never caught on that eating one made her barf--LOL!
ReplyDeleteNot tired of the beautiful autumn pics!! You are waxing poetic today. ;)
You're right - they are Asian (or Japanese) beetles (I did a search on the Internet). They bombard this place every autumn, but fortunately they don't stay around very long.
DeleteYup - one of my cats tried to eat some last night...and I had to clean up cat puke this morning.
I'm apprehensive to leave a comment since you're such a gifted wordsmith that I totally pale in comparison. I'll use the excuse that English is not my first language ... which is true.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures which are never tedious. Those colorful leaves are striking and your camera captures them perfectly - so clear and crisp that I feel as if I'm in your forest.
I hope that beetle invasion disappears for you. They look awful there being so many. It snowed for two days and boy did we get a blast of winter. I got pissed off and bought a snowblower yesterday since keeping up is just too tiring and backbreaking tossing heavy snow for hours and hours. Enjoy your temperate climate even if it rains.
It's difficult to believe that English isn't your first language - since you write it better than many Americans (who, unfortunately, are becoming more illiterate every day...).
DeleteI hope the snowblower will help lessen your winter work. There's no snow in sight around here, but I'm sure it will visit us eventually.
Everything is wet and dismal today and the autumn foliage is rapidly losing its bright colors.
Jon,
ReplyDeleteGood grief! Buried in beetles and not the musical kind. We finally appear to have tucked summer sway here and it is now chilly, but is about to rain again. Hmm, the bugs I didn't see this summer were cicadas. They must have slept in this year. The last couple mths have had oddly quite nights as a result.
Larry
Larry, it's rainy and much cooler today, so the pesky beetles have finally disappeared. I don't miss them.
DeleteI think I would even give the autumn foliage a miss if I had to deal with the bugs, there's something a bit alarming about lots and lots and lots and lots of living things, even if they are only bugs.
ReplyDeleteBy the way I loved my mug which arrived the other day from your Zazzle store, it's a good quality mug and such a lovely design. I know the recipient (birthday next week) will love it.
Jenny, the weather has cooled down considerably within the last few days and almost all of the beetles (and other creatures) are finally gone. That's one of the few things I like about cold temperatures.
DeleteI'm so glad the mug arrived safely and I'm especially glad that you like it. Many thanks - and happy birthday to the recipient!
When farmers start harvesting soybeans they deprive the Asian Lady Beetles of their home, so they invade our homes; they winter in cracks in houses and come out on the first warm day. The little pests were imported to America to get rid of some bug that was hurting the soybean crops, and here we are, stuck with them.
ReplyDeleteJapanese Beetles are a different species entirely, big and shiny green.
Thanks, Donna. You're absolutely right - I was recently reading about them. At least now I know the correct name for the little pests.
DeleteDo your cats try to eat the beetles? (Our tabby probably would.) Our friends who live in TN get invaded by bazillions of lady bugs. I'd never heard of that happening before, and seeing your picture, I don't want any part of that many bugs, no matter what kind they are.
ReplyDeleteMy cat Bosco ate some and got sick. I was cleaning up beetle puke in the morning. Thankfully they disappeared with the cold weather.
ReplyDeleteJon,
ReplyDeleteThank goodness we don't have those Asian beetles here! We do get little fruit flies which are annoying. Hey, never tire of seeing your autumn leaves pictures. Nor any of your photos of your beautiful wooded surroundings. By the way, how are your possum friends doing?
Ron