Over the weekend, as it seems with most weekends, errands needed run.  Our corner of the world is where the weathermen show a map of fall colors and point out the “Past Peak” area.  It should have peaked here a month ago.  And a month ago it was pointed out on the map that we were at “Peak” here.  For most of the area, those maps were right.  But for the roads He needed to travel on Saturday they were quite wrong.

Saturday was a glorious day here.  Glorious for a day whose date begins with November.  The sun was out, the temperature was up, and the daily drizzle took a day off.  It was a good day to take care of some essentials and the lack of a chill in the air was a bonus, particularly for someone still doing that post-hospital recovery thing.

But the most striking thing was that there were still beautiful fall colors in the trees.  The errand route involved going downhill from a good, high vantage point, driving through a canopy-like tree covered road or two, and getting a parking space that did not face the store front but rather faced the hillside across the street from the lot.  All of those areas were festooned with fall foliage anything but past their peak.  Orange, yellow, and red leaves, and even a green one here and there, stubbornly hung on to their branches to extend the fall show for at least one more weekend’s performance.  It was enough to make one stop and look and enjoy knowing soon those characters will finally let go and the raking and clearing and mulching will continue.

Even knowing there is work ahead, the joy those trees dressed in their fall finest made the errand running a little easier and made coming back out of the stores something to look forward to.

It does make one wonder though, what do the people who live in areas without fall do for enjoyment.  Maybe that’s one reason that those of us who live in an area that someone would call “Past Peak” stick around.

Now, that’s what we think.  Really.  How ‘bout you?