[masthead image: The Beans They Are A Turning]A question I have difficulty answering is "What is your favorite season?" Normally, I reel off the name of the season I am in. I love winter for the snow and the increased chance to observe wildlife, birds especially, near my home. I love summer because I can get things done outside and it is normally a relaxed time of year. Springtime is great because everything seems new again, after the last cold days of winter when things are beginning to thaw out.
But maybe my real favorite is Autumn. The fall of the year. This is when all the year's work pays off for farmers and they take in their harvest. This is apple picking time. This is when the school year starts up again. Football is played. Leaves change color. I was born in the early Autumn.
And so maybe it is natural that I spend free time wandering the countryside near my home, admiring the fields as they begin their change from green to golden, then slowly to brown on their way to bare as the crops are harvested. This picture is of a field of soybeans about three miles from my home, the sun shining on them on a perfect fall day - not too hot, not too cool. The plants are just beginning to shade toward the golden side. It won't be long now before the oilseeds are taken from the pods and the money is in the bank and the farmer will begin his long wait for spring planting again.
