It seems our warm 2011 summer just keeps on giving. Early forecasts from Environment Canada indicated that the fall colours would be excellent. And last Saturday's day trip on the Channel sure bore that out! During the growing season chlorophyll creates an abundance of green pigments in a leaf's cells while any other pigments that may be present are masked. But with autumn trees reduce the flow of water to their leaves and chlorophyll is destroyed. This demise allows other colours to be expressed. It's the variety of these rich colours that we so enjoyed this week: the orange maples, the yellow birches, the scarlet oaks, the burgundy sumachs; and the solid green of the pines provided such great contrast. I'm publishing a couple of photos that catch some of that glory. During a quiet moment I also pulled out my paint set. Thanks to our Benjamins art trip teacher Bob Little  and Marlies Schoenefeld for reminding me that it's about capturing the essence of what we see around us that matters, rather than the detail. What a relief! My latest water colour now sits over the computer where I'll get to admire fall's beauty even when it's over (but alas I'm feeling a little shy about publishing that).The good news in this area is that the fall colours are only at about 70% of peak. So whether viewed with a camera, paintbrush or your naked eye, there's still time to enjoy nature's palette from the water or a trail. -- Rick