first autumn leaf

As summer draws to a close the leaves on the dogwood out back are showing a slight tint of red. One leaf, however, has jumped ahead of the pack and turned to all the colors of fire and dropped to the deck below: I get the message, dogwood. Fall is coming, and the wet, dark, dreary days of winter. And worse still: The Holidays. Thank you very much, dogwood, for being about as subtle as a kick to the spleen.