The forest is turning. Not all at once, the way it does in photos, but in patches. From up here you can see exactly where the heat hit first, the hilltops going rust and amber while the valleys hold their green a little longer. It's the season's slow way of saying goodnight. I drove up to this ridge in October with a thermos and no plans. The air smelled like cold dust and pine and somebody's woodstove, three valleys over. Below me the trees were doing their quiet change, trading sugar for color, getting ready to sleep. Nothing rushes a forest. Nothing has to. I sat on the tailgate until my coffee went cold and my fingers went numb. It's the good kind of cold, the kind that makes the warm feel earned. When I got back to the car the heater took a minute and I let it. Some things are worth waiting for, shivering. The colors will hold for a week or two. Then the wind takes them, gently, the way you'd tuck in a kid. I drove home through the last of the light. The whole ridge glowed behind me the whole way. #autumnforest #october #cozyseason
