Berries galore!

I can hardly wait to see what Mother Nature has in store for us this winter. As a child, I was told that you can tell the hardness of the winter by looking at the stripes on the wooley bear caterpillar. And for years, I would look at them and know exactly how the weather was gonna be. It would be WET with lots of wind. This year, And in fact for several years now, I have not seen a wooley bear caterpillar. I have seen enough of the tent type to last several lifetimes, but no Wooley Bear!

Somewhere I read that you could foretell the harshness of the winter by the amount of berries on the bushes in the fall. OH MAN!!!! the soapberry bushes are practically white with berries, the Wild roses are covered with huge bright red rose hips, and even the blackberries that are usually gone by now are still covered, even though the rain has battered them for several weeks.

Yesterday on my way into town, I caught a glimpse of a fence line that was just covered with all of these berries. Included in them were the bright purple Oregon Grape. I was amazed at the proliferation of these bushes, and told myself on the way back I would stop and get a picture of them for posting. I forgot where they were! So I wandered the back roads looking for berries and found several but none as diverse as the fence line I saw. LOTS and LOTS of berries, but none with all different kinds together.

Heading up the hill from the beach to the house, I noticed bright red berries on trees! Well the elderberries that are bright red are gone, so what were these? I stopped the car on the road and took pictures, they are a hawthorn or a mountain ash, but I am not sure which. Pretty.



Judging by the number of berries out this year, we had better make sure that we have plenty of supplies on hand. The birds are eating them and getting really fat! The Geese have already started their Southern migration, and the animals are growing really thick coats.

Phyllis and I have put on several inches of insulation also, so If I were you, I would pay attention to the subtleties of Mother Nature...the heavy output of berries, the fattness of the birds, and the heavy coats on the animals, not to mention the Norwegian waistlines that I monitor, and prepare for a very cold, very long winter...I tell ya, my waistline has not lied yet!