Occasionally I will be asked, “What is your favorite color?”
My favorite answer is—Autumn.
Once I had the privilege of experiencing Autumn back East. Yes, the array of colors there among the deciduous trees has no peer. We have mainly two colors in Colorado—soft yellow and bright yellow. Oh, there are the occasional outliers of red, purple, burgundy, and the like, but we do YELLOW…and no place does it better.
This past week we went “leaf-peeping” in the Rockies. We were not disappointed. The aspens were putting on their glorious curtain call.
But there was also a much less recognized botanical show-off—the high-desert bush called chamisa, commonly called rabbitbrush. They, too, wait until September to explode in bright yellow. During most of the year they go unnoticed, but come Autumn, they burst into bloom.
In Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico, the chamisa bloom is accompanied by lavender asters. Those two colors dance with each other along the roads and hillsides. For a couple of weeks, it is one huge botanical extravaganza.
I have included pictures today from my trips this week. I wish I could show you the lavender asters, but alas, you would have to head to the San Luis Valley. You must trust me—it would be a trip worth taking.
While you are at it, you would need to stop in Pueblo and head out to DiSanti Farms for some fresh-roasted green chile. The robust aroma alone will draw you like a moth to flame.
You learn things about the plants around you from folk whose lives are deeply connected with the rhythms of the seasons. And today I celebrate this particular turn of the year—the time when you dress in layers. You start out with vests and jackets, take them off in the middle of the day, and then put them on again.
It’s a ritual I enjoy.
In the color spectrum of the rainbow, yellow is often overlooked. In September, it’s finally given its proper due.
Although, let me confess: come late April, I will celebrate again when yellow dandelions burst out everywhere, showing up uninvited and declaring that life is powerful.
Maybe yellow has nothing to do with cowardice.
Maybe yellow is the color of life refusing to be overlooked…it is in the center of the rainbow.
Onward and Upward,
Mark
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