Auerbach on a particularly fine day a few weeks ago. I had gone riding in the forest searching for blueberries, but alas, I was a bit too late and only small ones remained. I was only going to take pictures anyhow, as I’ve been warned not to eat them because the foxes carry a nasty little stomach worm that can’t be cured.

The sun sets earlier and earlier these days, another summer come and soon to be gone in a few weeks. Some of the trees are already showing some colored leaves, a bit too early I would think, but then again, I’m here in the north, so far from home. Though I must say, I’m looking forward to the colors of the fall. Hopefully I can manage a trip down to the Allgäu for some pics, but Franconia here seems a promising location for autumn color. A dream would be to head up to the arctic, then travel south with the progressing autumn over the course of a month or so. Maybe next year, if I’m lucky. Just a dream.

I remember the coming of autumn while back in New Zealand, so beautiful. Each morning I would wake up from my campsite near lake Wanaka and the snow on the mountains would be a little bit lower and it would take a little bit longer for the rock to warm up before we could go climbing. Then one day, a few weeks later, the big snow arrived and the world was white. That was in May.

I remember waiting for the snow in the autumn of 2006. Everyday I kept thinking, “It will come soon, it will come soon…” Traveling south through October and November: Scotland, Wales, England, Germany, cold, but still no snow. Finally, it came in mid December at 2000 meters in the Swiss Alps. Two days of storms and the world was white. That was the start of my first winter in Europe.