It was just another hot and sunny day in what has been an unusually hot and sunny summer. I was reclining on the back deck. Book in one hand. Glass of rum in the other. Feeling the warmth of the sun on my face, I tilted my head back and gazed up into the canopy of branches above me.
And that's when I saw it. There in the middle. In stark contrast to the green surrounding it. A first orange maple leaf.
It won't be long now.