Fox Ridge Foliage

A world-renowned Artist makes an annual visit to Alberta Creek. Each fall the artwork is on display and is visible from the windows of the Alberta Creek Café.

Picasso painted in cubes, Remington painted the history of the west, Kincade is "the painter of lights" and this artist is the "painter of leaves". To be more specific, this Artist is a foliage painter. Each leaf gets its own special blend of colors and each tree on the hillsides on the north shore of Alberta Creek and you have a Grand Masterpiece, created by the Master Himself.

On the last Sunday morning in October of 2002 I was in the café looking out over the water and got the inspiration for this article. Then on the following Sunday I was back at the café and Jean Tirey mention the foliage. She said that one of those rare cloudless days, with the sky a deep blue she was held spellbound by the beauty as the morning sun blazed across the hillside. To put it in her words, she said it was "absolutely gorgeous".

The trees that stand out the most are the ash with their leaves turned to a golden hue. The persimmon follows closely behind with its radiant yellow. Some of the elms are a lime green and the hickories are a dull yellow mixed with streaks of brown. Though more a bush than a tree, the scarlet leaves of the sumac add a bold stroke of color. The various species of oak are reluctant to change their wardrobe. The best I can describe them is a faded glory. The cedars stand out a bright green, reminding us of what the other trees looked like just a short time ago.

The dogwood's leaves turn to a purple hue. What dogwoods? Well, I'm speaking of those in other places. So far as I know, there are no wild dogwoods on Alberta Creek. However, I could be mistaken about that. I remember several years ago Virgie White said something about the beautiful dogwoods in Lake Texoma State Park. I called her hand on that one and she proceeded to tell me just where they were located. She said that when she was a little girl she rode down and old road in the back of a wagon and saw those dogwoods in full bloom. The trees can't be seen from the paved toad so I had to park and walk back north toward the lake. By following Virgie's directions I found the trees on the south side of Catfish Bay just west of the swimming beach. The old wagon road that Virgie alluded to is still there by the dogwoods. Incidentally, where that wagon road crossed Rooster Creek was the location of a notorious shootout between lawmen and some local boys.

Another tree that to my knowledge is not indigenous to Alberta Creek or Marshall County is the sweet gum. However it does grow well when set out and is a favorite of many landscapers. I think it is the most colorful of all the trees containing most of the colors of the artist's palette. As you travel east you will start to see the sweet gum tree in Choctaw County and the farther east you go in the state, the more abundant it will become.

There are few things that can match the beauty of the autumn foliage. Maybe the innocence in a baby's smile or the love in the mother's eyes could rival it. I guess the multi-colored fish of the oceans would equal it, but few get to behold that display. The rainbow, which contains both a covenant and a promise, given to us by the Master Artist Himself might even exceed it.