All day long people have been saying, “Happy first day of autumn!” Technically though, that would be tomorrow. Here in Virginia, the autumnal equinox arrives at 9:04 p.m. So, no autumn during the day today. But I’ve been celebrating autumn since September 1, since that’s the beginning of meteorological autumn which is based on temperatures. Not celestial objects floating across the sky.

And here in the mountains of Virginia, autumn is just thinking of happening, at least as far as the leaves are concerned. They’re nearly all shades of emerald. This leaf, at the top of the page, is a brilliant candy apple red from a Black Gum Tree (Nyssa sylvatica). One of many of my favorite autumn trees. Its leaves turn this wonderful color and generally hold on to them for while. Right now though, there aren’t many red ones – yet. I’ll be patient, waiting in the crisp autumn temperatures.