Put the clocks back Oct. 30 and luxuriated in bed the extra hour. Next morning on rising found we’d had the first killing frost of the year. It was a cool 23 degrees Fahrenheit. The plastic pail of water we keep under the downspout from the eavestrough had a half inch of ice. Broke off a chunk to show the missus as proof.

Inspecting the garden, it had blackened the few late potato and tomato vines. It makes it earlier than last year’s frost. It seemed we picked tomatoes in November then. The apples stayed sound on the trees way on into December and were still good to eat.

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A bit of the fall coloring still lingers despite the couple of gales we’ve experienced in the county. Still colorful on the leaward side. The trees at the foot of the mountain at Glenora Ferry and you still chance on a simple colorful tree still clothed in all its glory right out in the open, somehow retaining its leaves.

And believe it or not, we took a trip through Picton’s back streets. Huge elm and maple trees century old or better made for the most colorful of all.

By the way, as you drive around our county even in back roads you come across avenues of maple trees. There are a bunch of them to the west of us from Bell’s to Kelly’s Korner and further up at Vader’s.

A beautiful avenue runs north from Lakeland bordering Keith MacDonald’s farm. Apparently, how these fine specimens happened, round about 1870 or 1880, 100 years or so ago, the Ontario government went on a beautification binge and offered 50 cents for every maple tree planted.

To me that was the best investment the government ever made “wouldn’t you say?”

Reminds me I read that there is a part of Italy where, when a girl is born, the father plants a row of Lombardy Poplar. When his daughter weds, the fast growing trees are cut down and the proceeds of the lumber used as her dowry.

Any tree planted is a wonderful investment.

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