I just woke up from dozing off while working on a book review post, which is a sign I should close the laptop, brush my teeth, and go to bed, particularly since I’m still carrying around this lingering cough.

So I’ll share some photos I took Sunday while out for a bike ride. Some trees have totally dropped their leaves, but others have donned their best party attire for the upcoming holiday:

The majority of trees in this area turn yellow and orange. (I suppose the majority of trees everywhere do that.) But since I grew up in New England, I expect a certain amount of mapley red and usually am disappointed down here. Right now, the Japanese maples are out in full force, but mostly their red is a deeper, more purpley one and less fiery than the sugar maples of home.

So when I come across a solidly mapley maple (or, as in this case, a Japanese maple doing its best sugar maple impression), I just have to snap a picture, right?

Gorgeous!