Unseasonable

This time of year, it's pretty solidly late summer.  The trees and the prairie are still predominantly green -- the late season yellow tinge colors the world... yes, some of the prairie plants are past peak or even done flowering, but still.  It feels like summer.  

Cottonwood trees seem to be providing the exception.  Their leaves have already started to brown and fall.  Walking past them, you sense two of the quintessential signs of autumn that even the least observant phenologists detect... the crunch of dead leaves underfoot, and the smell of them in the air.  It's a little taste of what's to come!