Willow Leaves October 4

Fall Colors at Peak This Week Fall colors are at their peak around Willow Mills this week. We’ve had good weather for changing fall color with pleasant sunny days and crisp, cool nights. Here is what you will see if you visit town. Near the old iron bridge and Willow Mills United Methodist Church, the willow from which this town takes its name have turned an almost transparent pale yellow. The leaves are just beginning to coat the ground around the long sagging branches, making a carpeted bower beneath the trees. The water above the falls, where it is most still, is coated with a layer of the leaves, making it dappled with solid sunlight. Further downstream near the Devil’s Backbone, you can see the sumac in the swamp flaring in a brillian scarlet against the golden yellows of poplars across the river. South of town, you won’t want to miss the hickory and walnuts as they are turning yellow around Anderson Lake, and closer to the road you find some stunning red maples that line Anderson’s driveway showing that mix of bright scarlet and orange that can be seen for a couple miles as you come from the south. Closer in to town, Angus Fergusson’s place has that massive red oak in the front yard that has turned a cinnamon brown that looks good enough to eat. While you are in town, you will find a number of ornamentals showing their colors if you take the time to drive up and down our streets. Of particular note are the dogwoods in the old Lutheran cemetery that have gone almost maroon this year. There’s a stand of tamaracks at the end of market street, just past the cemetery at the edge of town that are just mixing their greens with the coming yellow. In front of Dorothy Ogden’s place you’ll see the witch hazel in her yard that has every shade imaginable, moving from green to bright yellow on the north side on to orange and a few purples on the south side. At the corner of the library there is a massive sycamore that proudly wears the scars of nearly a century of climbing kids. It’s mottled green and yellow leaves are a reflection of the peeling bark and are still concealing the brown oval seed pods that will stay on the tree most of the winter. If you are headed out east of town on Dry Well Road, keep an eye out for the orange and red sassafrass trees that Johnny planted near the green on the 8th hole. He’s put a yellow flag on that hole for contrast. If you are into the fall colors, Willow Mills is the place to be at this time of year. Hurry on by.

Jess & Jim’s Pyramid Oil Company

What’s so interesting about Jess & Jim’s (aside from the fact you will spend five cents more a gallon for fuel than in North Manchester, but you can get any kind of car overhauled for half the price)? Well, it’s the pinball machine.

Jess started hiring high school kids in the 50s and they kept nagging him until he installed a Ben Hur Chariot Race pinball machine in the 60s. Later, he switched to the Mata Hari pinball machine which has been in the gas station for about 20 years now.

What’s unusual about a pinball machine in a gas station?

Well, the thing is, you don’t have to pay to play… unless you lose. You see, the kids got so good on the machine that they keep racking up free games. You can stop in and play a free game, and if you win a game, it stays in the machine. If you don’t, you deposit a quarter and it jumps the credit back up one. Last time I stopped in to look, the credit meter showed 17 credits. The last time it zeroed out was when Jim’s wife left him and he kicked the machine causing a tilt. He dutifully deposited three dollars in quarters to restore it after things settled down.