Ramble with Storm: Hedgeapple ruminations, red clover, Queen Anne's lace & a fleece

Mulling things on my morning ramble

with Storm, the family’s mixed Lab.

Don’t know why but the night was restless, and I was up before 5 a.m.

Maybe I am not used to the coolness of fall come early after the historic heat we had much of the summer.

As soon as morning light had settled in, the meathead and I set off. For the first in two months, I pulled on the light camo fleece.

Up that early, we took the longer two-mile ramble. And I was glad we did.

As we first stepped off the longer loop, my morning was brightened with a burst of color from red clover blossoms. I am always fascinated that sometimes red clover is more pink or purple than red. My artistic sense was pleased with the white backdrop provided by flowering Queen Anne’s lace.

Back near the edge of a corn field, thick clumps of red berries hung on a viburnum plant. A fall splash of dark brownish red was already showing on a sumac. That seems early.

Then the color disappeared into basic greens and browns, as all the red clover blossoms in the back section were brown drying toward black. Not sure why they were so far along. Maybe it was the dryness of this summer.

On the back side of the town pond, I found one small hedgeapple down, a sure sign of fall approaching. Although in this goofy year we had some hedgeapples down much earlier this summer.

Back home, I found hedgeappe.com, yes, there is such a thing. And along the way of nosing around the site, I found that the fruit of the Osage orange is also know as a hedge ball, horse apple, green brains, monkey balls or mock orange.

I don’t know why, but that made my day.

As did finding a ragtime “Red Clover.”