Red maple

Red maple, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

Since we're in Florida near the western coastline and the Gulf of Mexico, we don't often have to scrape the ice from our windshields before work! Last week we had three frosty mornings, with temperatures dipping just below the freezing point.

The freezing temperatures presented us with an array of dying leaves, some changing colors in magnificent ways. I'm glad I got to take a photo of this wonderful red maple and finish my sketch; today the tree has dropped nearly all of its leaves.

I wish I could share the colors of the leaves with you - at best this is an approximation. The dying maple leaves are even more glorious than the new foliage, which is sometimes a combination of red, purple, and bronze.

Other trees in the area are sporting browns and yellows; the cypresses are my next favorite, its needles turning from green to a golden rusty brown. In the meantime, our temperatures have warmed up considerably!

You can click on the image above to view it larger on my Flickr photostream.