Fall Colors and Smells

I promised there would be a part two to my post earlier this week about the fall colors. There is a gorgeous tree we've found in Knoxville, known as the Ginkgo tree. It has gorgeous yellow leaves that bloom during the fall and make wonderful photos. When the leaves fall softly to the ground, they illuminate the path, and make it seem as if Dorothy will suddenly appear and starting following the yellow brick road.

The Ginkgo tree is dioecious, which means there are male and female trees. The female tress produce a fruit, which UT's Forest Resources Research and Education Center describes as having "a strong, malodorous odor." Malodorous is putting it mildly.  Because of this atrocious smell, males trees are normally planted, however there are several female trees on UT's campus and Pellissippi State Community College's campus, where David and I both have held our noses.

I didn't make the connection between the tree and the smell until this year. Every summer, I've noticed the fruits blooming and wondered what type of tree produces these round green balls. Every fall, I've noticed a strong smell near the parking garage on campus, but I always thought it was from a dumpster with rotting trash after a football game or some other event. I never realized it was from the trees growing near the garage.

Finally, I discovered these fruits that fall to the ground are causing the odor, especially when they are crushed by people's feet and cars driving on them. We were actually at a friend's house a month ago and when we got back in our car, which was parked under a tree with yellow leaves, we noticed the strong smell. It stayed with us in the car until we got home, and then we noticed our shoes carried some of the crushed fruit on the bottom. I started researching what type of tree and found the Ginkgo, which is seen and smelled in many states.

The fruits are gone now, and all that's left are the yellow leaves on the trees and the ground. I guess the strong odor is a small price to pay for the brilliant color they produce. (Thanks to David for snapping some of these photos during his visit to Pellissippi's campus yesterday. You can tell which ones are his since they look a lot better than mine! :))

Fall Colors Part 1

The leaves have fallen from most trees in East Tennessee, thanks in part to all the rain. I did snap a couple of shots recently near where we live, and there's a smelly (yes, smelly) tree on campus with beautiful yellow leaves that I'll write more about once I take a photo of them. I have my camera with me, but I keep forgetting to use it!

I haven't written about Sammie and Cash in a while, so here's an example of how we found them one evening when we came home from the grocery store. Sammie was sitting in the chair when we left, so Cash decided to join her. She's trying to teach him how to use my computer. In fact, she's been using it to write the annual holiday letter, a tradition Dolly started. One problem she's encountered so far is accidentally hitting the caps lock button...she must get that from her Grandpa Amos! :)

A Happy Halloween

Halloween is David's favorite holiday, and we have a tradition of decorating the weekend of the Florida/Tennessee football game in September, so our decorations have been up a while. Our "kids" are above...Pumkin, Telly and Willow. Don't you love Telly's lab glasses, courtesy of David.

The scary skeleton hangs on our front door, and when the wind blows, he knocks rather loudly.

A jack-o-lantern gourd one of my aunts made.

 

 

Our scarecrow couple out front with their hay bale, pumpkin and mum—an East Tennessee fall must-have decoration. 

We had a happy Halloween with more than 50 trick or treaters visiting us. The little kids were cute and still say "trick or treat," but some of the older ones just ring the bell and don't say anything, including a thank you. Some of their "costumes" are a bit different than the ones I remember wearing. As my dad would say, "Put some clothes on!"

It rained off an on all day, and I think the mist combined with the UT game last night kept some kids away, but it was still fun handing out candy. There were some families who drove their kids up and down the hill, but none like the first year we were here. It was past 9:30 p.m. on a weeknight, and our light was still on, but we hadn't had any kids visit us for at least an hour. The door bell rang, and when I opened the door, I saw about five kids with various costumes and pillow cases for treat bags. I loaded them up on candy since I knew this was probably the last group of the night. I realized a man was standing behind them, and I assumed it was their dad. He was dressed in a jail bird costume. I finished giving the kids candy, and was about to close the door, when he stepped up and demanded his candy. He smelled of alcohol and had only a few front teeth. I just put some candy in his bag and then noticed the mother of the children driving a beat up mini-van and smoking. It was a stereotypical Hillbilly Halloween to say the least.

We bought a jester hat for Cash, and he kept it on for about 5 minutes before figuring a way to get it off his head.

We ate lunch on Halloween at Vernon's Grill again, and it was another wonderful meal. They had some decorations, and I had to take a photo of this one with the Burger King being grilled. 

Hope you had a safe and Happy Halloween! Let's get out those Thanksgiving, I mean Christmas decorations now! :)