First maple color, millpond

There's a time and a place that always seems to give me my first inkling that the annual autumn color show is about to begin. Here it is: late afternoon by the millpond. Oh, sure, I see early fall hues in late summer, when the Poison Ivy and other deep understory plants start sporting red, and a hint of autumn can definitely be found along the edges of roads and rock walls when the Hay-scented Ferns turn golden. But real fall gets under way when the maples go from green to scarlet, and today, with the sunlight turning its own shade of autumn, I spotted a touchstone Swamp Maple, the tree I can set my calendar by. It's hardly at peak, but it's no longer just a summer tree. The maple has started to make the change. There are biochemical preparations taking place. They are no longer operating under the radar.