Autumn comes to the north land

I haven't posted many autumn photos, but it is clear that the fall is falling. These photos are from last weekend in northern Minnesota, where the leaves are a bit ahead of St Paul's autumn display. The first photo was taken at the aptly named Surprise Lake, where the fall colors are reflected on a mirror smooth lake surface. I think that most of the southern population of Minnesota traveled north for the weekend, filling the roads near Duluth and the north shore of Lake Superior with leaf gazers. Surprise Lake is somewhat north of Grand Rapids on the road to Big Fork.

Some maple trees really get inspired this time of year, showing a flare for the dramatic.

There are also quite a few impressive red pines in the north. This path on the way to Chase Point in Scenic State Park has a number of large red (also known as Norway) pines growing among the rocks. There is a different look and smell to the forests in the north, and a distantly familiar feel to its isolation. Autumn continues it's slow invasion of Minnesota from the north.

There was tennis last night, and in actuality this is supposed to be a tennis blog. I played a USTA Seniors mixed doubles match at a tennis club on 98th Street in Bloomington. It was a fun match, decided in the third set tie breaker, yet again. My partner and I managed to eke out a 10-8 win in the ten-point tie breaker and we finished the season with a team victory to wrap up third place in the league. We went home singing the famous victory line, "We're number three." There will be no playoffs and no playoff pressure. That seems to be a very good result.