Autumn

Autumn is in full bloom as it were, with cool, clear days, trees turning golden and people starting to stress out over the coming New Years holidays. At this time, anybody with a camera will feel the primeval urge to go out and take pretty pictures of leaves. I'm sure that in some far distant human past, cavemen would go out at this time of year, painstakingly create hollow boxes with a small opening in the front out of rocks and twigs, then obsessively point their contraptions at piles of leaves with an expression of utter bewilderment mixed with a deep sense of contentment.

Since these kind of pictures rarely have much value for anybody but the photographer, I thought I'd shorten the suffering and try to make one largish autumn post rather than dribble pictures at you over the next month or so.

Osaka castle and the park is ringed with small access roads and causeways that are very popular for walks or bicycle rides. This one to the north is surrounded by Ginkgo and cherry trees. To my eyes, the Ginkgo in the fall beats the cherry blossoms every time. As autumn is unusually late, the Ginkgo planted along midosuji hasn't actually turned color yet.

I really like the whole area around Osaka castle (with the exception of the castle itself). The moats are connected to the rivers, so they actually have plenty of fish for those who are so inclined to spend their time. No word on how edible they are though, after having lived in Osaka river water their whole lives. The water quality in rivers and canals is apparently a lot better than just a few years ago, but that is of course very much the relative statement.

Kobe seems to have an earlier autumn than Osaka; when went there a couple of weeks ago leaves were already turning.

More pictures, for those who are interested, in my Flickr-stream shown on the right. One warning or promise is that there's a couple of spider pictures there, with a spider eating a freshly caught ladybug.