Fall Surprises

Autumn around here is usually pretty bland looking. As the grasses go dormant and the trees pack it in for the winter months, there's not much to look at.  Most of the trees around here don't have leaves that turn into brilliantly electric shades of orange and red, the hallmark of the season.  Down here, the leaves just die and fall off, leaving the branches forlorn and naked. The exception is Lost Maples, a park about a ninety minute drive from here, which I'm told has some very beautiful trees that change with the seasons. 

The bleak landscape around here, however, often allows a person to see things that would normally be swallowed up by the grasses and weeds and cacti that flourish.  Purple tends to stand out among the browning grass, for example.  It was very easy for me to see these flowers as I drove past, and I had to stop and take a picture with my phone.  I am not exactly sure why the sky in this shot is a brilliant turquoise, but I suppose that it doesn't matter all that much. 

These fall flowers are purple, I love purple, and that is that.