It's October. The evening temps are reaching into the mid 30's and each day there are more maples and oaks turning shades of red and yellow. Still, we are at least two weeks away from the peak. There are many more trees with green leaves than there are with fall color.

The leaves on trees begin to change color as the chlorophyll levels drop. This explanation helped me understand why we see an isolated branches or tree in flaming fall color surrounded by trees or branches still showing green. The explanation goes on to say that distressed branches and trees show color first. They're the first to have chlorophyll levels drop.

We were in the Northeast several years ago and were amazed at the brilliance of color there. Michigan has a grand parade of fall colors too. We won't, however, see the peak here. Still, the fall color now is very respectable and a thrill to see. We'll be here for another week and hope that we will see colors spread over the nearby hills.

Here's a taste of what we've seen so far. I've posted photos in two galleries - trees and leaves. It's a riot. If it gets much better, I may be able to handle it...