In the past week, several days of gusty winds have removed all the leaves from the trees in the marsh. I feel so sad when they all go. Yet, away from the marsh, in the neighborhood and throughout town, the sugar maples are in their glory and the oaks are a deep russet. How I wish I had the time to spend the day hiking in the woods.

The last time Sophie and I took a woodsy walk, I guess it was last Thursday, we trekked up to the estate and had a wonderful time walking the trails, on the soft carpet created by the newly fallen pine needles. It'll be a while before we attempt this again because once we were home, I kept finding ticks crawling through Sophie's fur. Ugly! I thought the frosts of the past few weeks would have killed them off by now.

I'm coming up empty as far as photos of the estate, but here's one taken from the bridge crossing the Neponset River in Canton, a stone's throw from the Amtrak station.