In the Fall Zone

Photo from June 20, 2026.

Photo from May 10, 2025.

Based on a photo from May 12, 2024.

Based on a photo from June 2, 2025.

Photo from May 31, 2026.

Photo from June 20, 2026.

Photo from June 20, 2026.

Based on a photo from May 15, 2026.

Photo from June 15, 2026.

Photo from May 10, 2026.

Based on a photo from May 10, 2026.

I walked up to get a photo of this gang and then most of them started moving toward me. Being surrounded by Canada Geese can feel like being accosted by multiple panhandlers, so instinctively I began backing up while repeating, "OK OK OK!" I know when I'm outnumbered. 😆

Based on a photo from May 15, 2026.

The Richmond metro area is ringed by various streams, bottomlands, and swamps. So people traveled around following natural ridges in the landscape. (Some of our oldest roadways were already established Native American trails.) So I can imagine a local in older times giving a newcomer directions on how to get around the "Big Swamp."

I couldn't identify these small, pale purple flowers, but it made me smile to see them again this year in a park near the river.

This park lies within the Richmond Coal Basin, where the first systematic coal mining operations occurred in the U.S. Nearby are coal mining ruins that reached their peak in the 1830's-1840's. A branch of Falling Creek winds its way through the park, and its sooty appearance is noticeable.

Despite the roar of interstate highway traffic just behind the trees on the right, this local stream flows along over smoothed granite bedrock. It seems unbothered by how LOUD some motor vehicles actually are.