sleepy orange – In the Woods

In the Walktober post time frame, fall colors in the Piedmont of North Carolina can mainly be found in the flowers. The leaves don’t begin turning in earnest until November. So, while my sister and her husband have been visiting me for a wonderful ten days, we decided to find a colorful walk at Duke Gardens in Durham. It was a lovely autumn day and I hope I get this post in before the deadline!

‘Ryan’s Pink’ chrysanthemums looked so pretty on the stone wall

this little lizard was climbing the steps ahead of us

and then decided to ditch us by going under a step

an oak leaf for my suspended leaf collection

Osage orange fallen from its tree
(I had never heard of this kind orange before)
AI says that while it is generally not poisonous,
eating it causes an unpleasant taste and can lead to indigestion

birdhouse with tatarian aster landscaping

stonecrop, a dose of more traditional fall color

painted lady butterfly hiding in the chrysanthemums

Mexican sunflower (not a true sunflower)

monarch butterfly feeding on a Mexican sunflower
(I hope it doesn’t think it made it all the way to Mexico already!)

This was my first Walktober without Tim. He died six days after our last one, and three days after I posted it. I wasn’t sure if I could find it in me to participate this year, but after the family had a memorial dinner to mark one year after his death I felt like taking this walk in his memory this year. I know he would want me to carry on and find some pleasure in the activities we used to share.

10.15.25 ~ Ann & Jim Goodnight Museum Park
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina

This will be my third Walktober post from North Carolina; my first three were posted while living in Connecticut. Again this year Dawn, over at her Change Is Hard blog, will be hosting. There is still time to participate if you wish to share a walk or other experience this month, and you can find the simple instructions to do so here.

I decided to try a new location for the walk this year. The North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh is 27 miles away from home so it was a bit of an expedition getting there. (And due to rush hour traffic in the late afternoon it took us one and a half hours to get home afterwards!) The museum is surrounded by a lovely park with walking trails, so we picked the Upper Meadow Trail.

Butterflies and bees were all over the hillside meadow we explored, and we spotted two new-to-us kinds of butterflies. We even saw a honey bee with a pollen basket on her leg, filled to the brim. There was an interesting sculpture to ponder, and wildflowers and grasses as far as the eye could see. It was definitely worth the trip!

“No Fuss” by Mark di Suvero
*I don’t build small models or draw detailed plans first.*
*I start with a vision, a dream of what I want to do, and see where it goes.*
~ Mark di Suvero

There blows the yellow crested reed,
The autumnal queen of flowers.
~ Samuel Alfred Beadle
(The Golden Rod)

To see my past Walktober posts select the Walktober tag in the categories below this post. When Dawn collects the links to everybody’s posts in November, and then posts them on her blog, it’s fun to take a look at all the different places other bloggers have visited, and read about the experiences they have had.

Tag: sleepy orange

fall flowers for ‘fall colors’

sunlight over the meadow