Autumn Fantasy

Dateline: Cattaraugus County, western New York State

This has got to be one of the loveliest autumns I've seen.

Western New York is a well-kept secret. Even in normal times we don't get many coachloads of leaf-peeper tourists. And even if they had felt like travelling this year, they might have been disappointed.

Because it all came early and surprised us.

Perhaps it was because of the couple of weeks of drought and warm weather we just had.

Or perhaps Nature just wanted to give us a break from all the angst and craziness

And said, "Here, relax, just enjoy me for a while!"

And gaze at the hillside tapestries

And the incredibly crisp blue sky. It seems that somebody, at least, is taking to the air.

But it's really hard to go for a walk as you just have to keep stopping to take a picture

I regret that I'm too lazy to bother with a fancy camera.

Anyway, nothing would really do the scenery justice.

You have to be there and drink it all in while you can before the wind and rain comes and sweeps it all away as suddenly as it came.

So this little taste will have to do.