Camera malfunctions causing delay post

Here I am sitting at home on a great biking day; it's called getting ready for a solo trip to visit Derin and Dan in Evanston.  But I am a week late in posting our last biking adventure due to camera malfunction so biking still becomes a part of the weekend.  The trusty Canon finally bit the dust and is replaced by a very small Sony. 
Heading out on a Sunday, September 12 because of schedule conflicts we drove out to Bowlus to bike to Albany and back on the northern extension of the Lake Wobegon trail.  On our way into town we braked for a mother pheasant and her trail of young.  Seemed late in the season for youngsters.   Ring-necked pheasants are a non-native bird introduced from China (what isn't).  They only have one brood per year and don't migrate.  The peasant hunting season is just around the corner in mid-October.  I am not a hunter and can't say that I have ever tasted pheasant.  In fact this is the first pheasant I've seen in the wild since we had one living in our neighborhood years ago.  You would hear its call fairly frequently in the morning and it liked to prowl under our bird feeders.

The outstanding part of this ride was the remarkable change over from summer to autumn.  We spent most of our bike rides this year riding in upper 80 degree temperatures and high humidity.  This was the first sunny but cool day we had all year.  The leaves crackled underneath our tires.  The sumac is turning red.  Grasshoppers were around but not a nuisance.  One nearly took me out by flying in between my helmet and my glasses. Nasty bugger.  We saw lots of squirrels foraging in the woods and the occasional butterfly.  No woolly bears yet.

July

The striking change of the corn from green to brown was noticeable in most of the fields.  Soybeans were turning the golden of a ripe field.  Flowers were few and far between except for asters and an occasional coneflower.  Most fields of flowers had turned to fields of seeds.  The one picture here is the same view from July and now in mid-September.

September

I also wanted to note that along this trail there are opportunities for play for families with kids.  Bowlus has a complete playground outside its depot with picnic areas (see photo on website above).  Holdingford features a wooden train that kids can crawl through from the caboose to the engine which has a bell to ring.  I tried to wait my turn to play but the kids wouldn't give it up for me.

The season is rapidly drawing to a close more because of hunting seasons than weather.  We hope to squeeze in a ride the first weekend in October or maybe I just need to play hooky?