Autumn Leaves - Sharing With All of You

I actually got a lot done yesterday. Just having the particulars of this year's Holiday Card nailed down allowed me to actually begin working on them, so I was able to put some items back into storage, pull other items out, clean my space a bit, and most importantly, find the paints I want to use which were buried with a different group of crafting supplies. Now I'm excited, and I'm starting to hear from several of you. Let's make it a landslide of people - Such fun. 

I pulled off in the the parking lot of the Senior Living condominium 1/2
mile from my house to share this beautiful tree. 

A little farther into my immediate neighborhood was
this golden beauty with rust at the tips. It dominates
the entire block. So pretty! 

I've been watching and laughing at this tree for a couple
of weeks now. Look carefully. It's a single tree. The back side
of it is green, the front is this brilliant scarlet. It
obviously has decision issues. 

I took a bit of time while driving back home from the grocery store to take autumn photos of my immediate neighborhood showing their fall colors to share with all of you. Today's post will be heavy on the photos, but it's so pretty. 

A second look at my "split personality" tree. This is on one of two
roads that I take home at night, only a mile or less from my house. 

A little farther along, on my way to the gym every morning, is this
lovely spread of red-tinged gold trees. That spark of brilliant
scarlet in the center left always pulls my eye. 

Even smaller plants can sing. This is just a small
plant around a tree by the side of a commercial building.
That brilliant scarlet coloring just caught my eye and
I had to take a quick photo. This is between my
grocer and my house, maybe a mile away from where
I live. 

I grew up in the Western US where autumn consisted of driving into the high mountains to see the carpet of gold caused by the aspen leaves contrasting with the evergreens in the heights. It was wondrous and beautiful and I loved it. But my favorite colors have always been the saffrons, russets, and bright reds, and those were very rare in Colorado. They aren't rare up here. Every bank of trees or bushes has red somewhere. I'm sharing reds with all of you today. 

Of course we get amazing golds too. This tree is still turning, but
looked so amazing framed against our brilliant blue sky. 

The main street forming the southern border of this mile-long square
I've been sharing with all of you has these newer trees that go
into a dark and rich red every autumn. They extend from here
to the left for at least 1/2 mile, maybe closer to a full mile. 

Finally, one last shot - here's the dawn's light hitting one bank of
turning leaves as I drive home from the gym in the early morning.
The darker area in the sky is actually clouds, although it looks
like ocean or a lake. No, it's low-clouds near the horizon. 

We're off peak. We usually peak right around October 11th, but it's been grey, cloudy, cold, rainy and even a touch snowy, so yesterday was the first true blue sky we've had in the past two weeks. Great timing, Mother Nature. That blue sky allows me to show you why I love autumn in the Frozen Northlands so much. 

Now to plug in my photos and share with all of you. Have a great Thursday and I'll return tomorrow!