Yellow Mellow - Fall is here

Have you ever been taken back by what you see in nature? Here on the pond near my home in The Woodlands Texas, I noticed this last week an unusual scene. Everything I saw seemed to be yellow! Well, today cool air has put it all into perspective. It is fall! This weather has brought a mellow feeling from my childhood that definitely includes Halloween and the beginning of the yellow leaves. Yellow is a harsh color to me in the summer. It reminds me of heat! By golly, we have had plenty of that this year.

What caught my eye this week was the yellow reflection on the surface of the pond. Then and only then did I become very interested in the color. Now I could see the departure of summer and coming of cool weather. On closer inspection, I found nature in change.

Honey bees were gathering honey by the bucketful.

Busy as a bee has real meaning on the pond right now. Winter is approaching and the last opportunity to collect honey in abundance will wane in the coming month.

One needs to look closely at the life on the pond  to appreciate what is going on. Small and large butterflies are also in abundance, preparing for migration to southern winter habitats. Look at the yellow reflection under the wings of this little guy. This is the hardness of the summer sunlit yellows of the flowers. This will be replaced by the more subtle colors of autumn very soon as the trees change color.

Various other butterflies are abundant as well. The pond is simply teeming with wildlife, seeking the nectar of the wild yellow flowers.

When the Monarchs suddenly showed up, their size and magnificence seemed to eclipse the colors of the other creatures. I had to say to myself, it has been a long difficult summer for many creatures, but look what is happening before my very eyes! The pond is full of creatures celebrating the coming fall and the drought has been broken.  Yellow is not so extremely hard after all. It became absolutely beautiful!

So mellow yellow? That it is!

"They call me Mellow Yellow.
Born-a high forever to fly.
Wind-a velocity nil.
Born-a high forever to fly.
If you want your cup, I will fill.
They call me Mellow Yellow"