I'm starting to see it here and there, that wee smudge of red in the hills. Born and raised an upper Midwesterner I spent my youth among the brilliant colors of the Sugar maples. After years in the Rocky Mountains I came to appreciate the gold of the aspens. Here in Texas I eagerly await the reds of the Flame sumacs and the Spanish oaks.

Some years are better than others. A few years back the oaks along RM 1174 were spectacular. We don't have as many Spanish oaks along the road between Lago Vista and Austin but there are a few in the hills and, along with the sumacs, their fall color gives me a feeling of another season changing, another year passing.