Salt Springs, FL: Searching for signs of autumn in central Florida can be a daunting task. Leaves often go from green to dead overnight. There is no easing from a bright vibrant green into the warm color palette of fall. There is alive, then dead. Mid-August most of the foliage begins to dull from the excessive heat, burning from the heat of the summer sun, losing its vibrancy – already heading to brown. Late summer rains do their best to return the luster found in spring, always falling a little short.
But every now and then, as October approaches November, we are rewarded with a small vine that is nostalgic for a northern autumn. One such vine was recently spotted while I was rocking on a porch swing hanging from a huge old oak tree at the Amrit Yoga Institute. As my gaze languidly washed over the property full of oaks draped in Spanish moss I caught sight of a tiny burst of red. Â Usually this will turn out to be a hibiscus or a cardinal, but today I am lucky. I get to see Fall.
In that moment sense memory provides me with a lovely crispness in the morning air and the smell of a fireplace warming someone’s chilly home. I can hear the crunch of leaves as a rake is drawn across them, exposing the browning grass beneath. Somewhere in the distance a chainsaw is cutting firewood.
Back from my reverie, I wipe the sweat from my brow, put my flip flops back on and head down to the beach. They say it may reach 90 today.
Allison's Wanderland 
Perfect touch of fall