When the Frost Is On The Pumpkin

Been waiting for the first frost of autumn. It hasn’t hit us yet, but many areas around here have experienced it already, which officially ends the growing season for them. My furnace has been turning on lately, though.

The photo of the roses above was captured at Glen Foerd Estate in Northeast Philadelphia, right across the section of Poquessing Creek that borders the property on which I live.

Those flowers will probably be the last bunch until next spring, unless the frost continues to dillydally like it’s been doing in my vicinity, not that I’m complaining, mind you.

The fall colors have yet to peak, but they’re getting close. Walking around Glen Foerd yesterday, I took a bunch of photos which I’d like to share with you. The following is a shot of the cement pond, as Elly May Clampett would say. That was Donna Douglas of the Beverly Hillbillies. Remember her?

I didn’t realize Ms. Douglas had died at eighty-three years old in 2015. Found that out while checking on the proper spelling of her character’s name. I had a crush on Elly May way back then. She was in her thirties while filming the TV program. Don’t recall her name trending on Twitter when she passed, like most every noteworthy individual does who dies.

Funny how you never read anything about a good portion of forgotten celebrities on Social Media until their death. Then everybody has to tweet, “RIP,” which makes me always think: how else are they going to rest? They’re dead. Certainly they won’t be twirling around in their caskets. How about those who get cremated? Will their urns start wobbling like the bottle in I Dream of Jeannie? I had a crush on Barbara Eden too. Glad to see she’s still alive.

Here’s another shot from Glen Foerd Estate’s rose garden:

Had to sneak in a shot of my Cooper. A wedding was about to take place, so I hung out in the rose garden and on the lower end of the property, taking photos of changing foliage.

The next one is of some more bush roses that are surviving the fall.

Soon the rose garden will look like the photo below, and we’ll be asking, “Is this some kind of joke?”

The old tree in the following picture seems to have died. Wonder what killed it?

I see lots of trees like that which were thriving and then, all of a sudden, they become prime candidates for firewood. Scientist are saying high levels of salinity in the soil, or excess salt, kills vegetation and trees, whether it be as a result of rising sea levels or runoff from road salt in the wintertime.

The salt line in the Delaware River for this time of year normally stops a bit north of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, which crosses the river from New Castle, Delaware, and Pennsville Township, NJ.

Looking at its latest position on a graphic from the Delaware River Basin Commission, the salt line on this past Tuesday stopped north of Commodore Barry Bridge at Chester, PA, and Bridgeport, NJ.

It’s just curious to me why so many trees lately have been dying off. I’ve noticed it happening at Neshaminy State Park, further north up the river from Glen Foerd. My favorite walnut tree at Sarobia died and was cut down recently.

Could the river’s salinity level be slowly rising undetected, causing the demise of all these trees?

Enough about death. Who wants to read about that anyhow, unless someone wants to wish a newly and dearly departed soul, “RIP” on Social Media?

Before concluding, here are some more shots of dying leaves, which look so beautiful in the fall. Sort of nature’s irony that beauty can be found in death.

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The above photo was taken yesterday as well, when I was at Sarobia in Logan’s Garden, being interviewed for a documentary about the old estate that’s now Neshaminy State Park. The next photo is of the two guys who are producing the epic, which will be coming soon to a Social Media venue near you. Stay tuned.

Tyler and Coady

Thanks for stopping by, and for your continued support.