Autumn equinox (near enough)

I went for a local walk, mainly to get some exercise in between the rain showers, just a couple of days after the autumn equinox. I didn't take my camera as it didn't look especially promising for photos but then when I got out I found the light was quite good so I whipped out my phone and took a few snaps. 

It's that time of year again when photos taken one week and posted the next quickly start to look a bit out of date, as the colours of the foliage change so rapidly. By the time you read this, it will all look different. (I usually have a few posts in hand that I haven't had chance to share, and I rarely post anything the same day it's taken.) Never mind. Beauty is beauty whether it is this week or last year! 

I was out for about an hour - and just arrived home as the thunder and lightning began, then accompanied by a terrific hailstorm! Talk about luck! It was such an unusual storm that it made the national news, as some roads on higher ground became temporarily very treacherous with ice and slush. It was, apparently, a 'supercell storm' - common in the US but rarely experienced here.