There are just a few Sugar Maple trees (Acer saccharum) up here in the woods around the cabin. Further up, in the higher elevations there are many many more. They’re the last ones to turn from their summery green to some warm autumn coloring and the last to drop those leaves turning the landscape into a winter wonderland, minus the snow, unless the weather gods cooperate.

That winter landscape, shades of black and white with year-round greens thrown in. Greens of pine, cedar, fir, and hemlock if those hemlocks are quite lucky. I’m a person that loves to work in color, but I also embrace the season with very little. Cover it with a thick layer of white snow, and I’m even happier.