Things You Can Count On

Photo author’s own.

The fall foliage came late this year

after endless

pandemic

and

an inordinate amount

of

rain

(then heat,

then

drought)

tricking us into believing

it might not come.

Now, as I drive through our neighborhood,

the Japanese maples explode in a

profusion of

color:

canary yellow,

marigold orange, and

excruciating madder red.

Photo author’s own

Yesterday,

kicking an old playground ball around

the fall-worn yard with our dog,

the sunlight spilt through

sycamore branches in

blinding

starburst rays.

Wind gusts drifted clouds on Magritte sky.