Driving home work work yesterday, I stopped along one of the many ridges because if I didn't I was going to drive off the road. The sun was at that perfect angle where it lights up the hillside, and I realized the trees were having a party. I wanted to crash it...but preferably not in my car. It's at the peak of our two weeks of color, where all the trees still have their leaves so there's no bare spots, but half of them are still green and the other half are all shades of yellow, orange and red, turning the hills into tapestries.
I don't know why I'm surprised by this every fall. It always catches me off guard for some reason, and that baffles me because I love autumn and I know in my head that the trees will start turning pretty colors, so for months I look forward to these two weeks. But every year, never failing, I'll be driving along minding my own business when suddenly I notice that the sumac along the side of the road is the brightest red I've ever seen, and above that the birches are turning yellow, and the maples red, and the other trees I don't know the names of are all dressed up in their autumn's best and above everything is the bluest blue sky and an angling sun which accents everything so nicely. Then I realize I'm about to go into a ditch and figure I should probably not die this day...though it would be a lovely one to go out on.
