October Country

Welcome to autumn sights!

Fall is my favorite time of year. Here is a selection of photos I've taken in my recent travels. Feel free to post some of your own literary pictures in the comments section.

Enjoy!

Native oaks. The coloring is so subtle it defies the 

camera.

Pink banana squash, a favorite in Utah.

Lovely color on this ash tree. I just wish
it were easier to keep the bugs out.

Spooky Halloween Tree

This looks good for the scary season, but 
will be bad through the life of the tree.

I appreciate the macabre spirit of Halloween as much as everyone, but making a tree into a permanent horror is simply too much.


For the rest of its life the tree will have problems with:

• Bad form caused by quick growing limbs.
• Branches constantly rubbing together and leaving open wounds.
• Rot and disease entering into the trunk and main limbs.
• A drastic increase in limbs falling. Some of them might be quite heavy.

I understand why the homeowner would think this is a good idea, the tree really is too big for the location. A better solution would have been to remove the tree and replace it with a smaller tree.

The worst horror of this botched job is that the pruner thinks he did great work. I am disappointed that someone who professes to love their job refuses to put the study into understanding the basic do's and don'ts.

I strongly recommend that if your friends get work like this, don't go to them for recommendations on a tree service.

I bid you peace and hope that your Halloween horrors last only through the season!

Bright and Shiny

One of the new denizens of progress in Provo. While I don't object to a new conference center, I wish they had designed it with more charm and less glitter and flash. This is especially important since the site is in the historic center of the town. 

A clue could have been taken from the buildings they demolished to make room for it. Color of the brick could have been matched in some of the glass that is not needed for its translucence. 

Larger sections of traditional materials could have been incorporated throughout the exterior to tie the building into the surrounding cityscape. 

Adornments echoing late 19th and early 20th styles could have been added to show respect for the past of the area.

Instead, Provo now has a new building that says nothing about Provo except they are desperate to be something else. Something new, something fresh, something--bland.

So there you have it. But then again, I'm just a gardener, maybe I have it wrong. Please, tell me what you think...