Anniversary Date

We hereby interrupt the garden part of this blog to share some of our fall experience. For some reason, I did not take many pictures of the autumn leaves even though this was a spectacularly beautiful year here at the base of the Blue Ridge mountains. No photograph I took did justice to the colors that changed, deepened, softened, and mesmerized daily.

The end of October marks Brooks' and my wedding anniversary. We took the day off for a walk in the woods. We had never explored the west part of our county, so we went to Chau Ram Falls, among other places.

This spring was hidden off to the side of one of the trails at the park. It didn't look too inviting... the water inside was murky and brown. It looked more like... I don't know... a resevoir? The water inside was not flowing. But it still looked pretty cool, with this big rock capping the top.

This is a lovely plant called hearts-a-bustin'. The botanical name is Euonymous americana. It grows all over this area, and I have had the pleasure of introducing several of my garden clients to this plant, growing in their yards. When the orange seed capsules split open to reveal several bright red seeds inside, it is pretty special!

I'm not really sure this picture was taken on the same day, but it is so pretty, how could I not include it?

This might have been the Horsepasture River, where it spills in to Lake Jocassee.

The Chattooga River is the dividing line between South Carolina and Georgia. It is a whitewater kayaker's dream. This particular spot is the very treacherous Bull Sluice run. It is rumored that not all kayaker's who attempt this run make it. While we were there, a trio of young men did make it. It looked like quite a rush.

Finally, here we are at Brasstown Falls. Pictured here is the middle falls. We had to climb down a steep and slippery path to get here, and the lower falls was further, steeper, and even more slippery, so we did not venture that far on this trip.

But we did make it to the upper falls. To get there, we had to take off our shoes and socks, roll

up the ol' pants legs, and wade across the creek. That water gets pretty cold by the end of October! It was worth it though. What a beautiful spot. What a beautiful day.