Here in Kansas, the leaves are changing, the air is chilly, the landscape is blazing autumn under a deep blue sky. It’s finally fall, my favorite season.

Most people probably think that Kansas is one unending expanse of flat crop land, that we all live in Auntie Em’s farm house, and our next door neighbors are either munchkins or green-faced witches.

I can’t speak for every place or every person in Kansas (maybe your neighbor really is a green-faced witch), but I can tell you a little about northeast Kansas. Here, believe it or not, Kansas is beautiful – rolling hills, woodlands, creeks, amazing sunsets, deep starry skies, and, yes, we even have trees that change color.

It’s true that we don’t have rugged mountains or rocky coasts, we don’t have thousands of lakes that mirror the skies, we don’t have soft sunny beaches.

But northeast Kansas has its own beauty. There are places here that remind me of driving through small New England towns, with their winding, hilly roads and flaming autumn trees. We have views that could be mistaken for rolling green fields in Ireland, speckled with white rocks and clumps of sheep. We may lack castles, but we have some beautiful barns. And we may lack a seashore, but, gosh-darnit, we have amber waves of grain!

Northeast Kansas, in short, is a very pretty place.

(That’s my story, by golly, and I’m sticking to it!)

I finished my little silk gimp tree yesterday. On Monday, I’ll show you how it was made and give you some suggestions for making your own. Mine has an autumnal flavor to reflect the season, but you can adapt the process to any type of tree you like, and even to any supplies you have on hand.

If you’re in the northern hemisphere, I hope you’re enjoying the onset of autumn! For those of you down south, may your spring be equally delightful!