every year is different

doing STILL for ten years has taught me that every year the fall colors are utterly unique. sometimes lots of yellows and oranges, some years only reds. some years the leaves hardly change color at all, and drop from the trees still green. this year, probably because of a mid-summer drought, i notice that we are skipping the tangerine oranges and citrusy yellows, and most of the trees are going straight to red…but not brightly hued candy apple red, more like wine red. merlot i call it.  i love this color. the deeper, richer, more complex red suits me. it’s softer on the eye. less demanding of attention. sexier. it makes me want to curl up by a fire, with a glass of côtes du rhône, and read simone de beauvoir.

hydrangea florets in autumn