Sunday, December 02, 2007

Sunday Surprises, Songs, and a Kitty Savior.

So on Sunday morning I head into the sun room and WHAM....right out the window I saw this:


When did that Crepe Myrtle next door turn orange????

I mean, I go in the sun room EVERY day; how could it have turned color that fast?

I went outside to take a better look, and also to check out the bricks. Bernie had been out earlier, and had said it was so warm and humid outside that the bricks on the ground were sweating.

He was right, see for yourself. That ain't rain there folks, that is humidity.

75 degrees R (around 24 C), 79% humidity.

I thought if I had missed seeing that tree change, maybe I had better go for a walk around the neighborhood and see what else had changed.
Maybe even knock on a few neighbor's doors and sing Autumnal Carols.

It's beginning to look a lot like autumn
Everywhere I go...
The leaf that once was green
Is waiting to be seen,
It's turned a most lovely shade of orange....
Falling leave, falling leaves, falling all the way
Oh what fun it is to walk through the leafy mulch today-eh?
Dashing through the leaves
Seeing colors bright
Oh what fun I'm having here taking pictures left and right!

Autumn leaves

Autumn leaves

It's still bright Autumn here in Texas

See them all

Watch them fall

Soon it will be time to rake.

Most of the houses on our street have at least one crepe myrtle tree out front.
The crepe myrtle are completely covered in either white, lavender, fuchsia or pink blossoms during the last summer.
But when their leaves turn color in fall, well, that's a pretty spectacular show too.
I don't know the name of this tree, but I love the pure yellow tones of the leaves.
This is a Chinese tallow tree. It turns every autumnal color possible.

While I'm walking around, I see this tow truck/Triple A service truck come around the corner, then it makes a U turn, clearly lost.

But check out the windshield....

How cool is this???
Of course I have to know what the story is.

The driver said he was on 45 this morning, (a SUPER busy freeway, major artery for Houston) when he saw this little cat. So he managed to stop and get her, and she's been riding around with him all day.

He's going to take her home to his kids, and let them name her.

I would have taken that little calico off his hands in a second, but it was clear they were already bonded.

Doesn't that story just make your day?
The forest on one side of the road where I talked with the service truck driver....

And the banana and palm tree forest on the other side of the street.

Even the banana tree is changing into fall colors.
(Yeah, I hear you people stuck in freezing weather and snow. Enjoy your winter! I still don't get why you got started on it so soon. How long will it be until you have spring again?)

The tropical trumpet flowers are gorgeous out front of one house.

And there are cardinals EVERYWHERE! I so want to get a zoom close up of them.
Instead I always just catch a little red spot in the middle of the green.

The cardinals sure do look pretty flying around the Bradford pear trees that are just starting to turn red.
At this point in the walk it started raining so I headed home. Home, by the way, is the double roof just past the yellow tree in the picture above.
I am so glad I took that little walk.
It made me feel happy the rest of the day.
Deck the lawns with piles of bright leaves
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Tis the season the snow bound get teased
Fa la la la la, lala lah la.
Don we now our shorts and tee shirts
Fa la la la, lalalala, la la la.
Tho' it's hot here, we don't miss long winters
Fa la la la la, la la la la la.
(Hey, put down that snow ball! I was just kidding! Really!)

10 comments:

Vicki said...

I just love the colors of Autumn, especially when you can spy a brilliant cardinal flitting around. That is making me homesick, Jill. I miss the crisp, brightly colored days. I just checked our weather - at 12:20pm, the temp is 79 degrees F (heat index 80) and the humidity is only 62%. However, we have a cold front coming through tonight...it'll get down to 50 tonight and 45 tomorrow night...brrr!

The kitty story is so sweet. I know he's going to a loving home - not many people would take the time to stop and rescue a kitty off a busy interstate.

Lovella ♥ said...

Oh boy . . .
I did love the songs, I even sang along. . .we have different stanza's up here . .did you know?

Anyways, the colors of the trees are really pretty and I looked ever so longingly at the banana trees and palm trees. (that is where I had a lump in my throat)

The story of the little calico was sweet. I'm glad it found a friend.

Kate said...

You certainly are in a cheery mood! Good for you. Love the colors. Our snow is gone and it's been grey and rainy for awhile now. Feels colder than it really is. We won't see Spring tho' until May. Ah, but then I won't be here anymore. K Q:-)

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

What a pretty neighborhood you live in! Even though hot and humid, it sure is a lovely place to walk.

Wow, a cat-loving tow truck driver - how cool is that!!

About the photo problem: looked on the "Dashboard" at "Known Issues" - they know about it and are working to fix it. They offer a "solution" in the meantime that involves HTML code, but it's all Greek to me - ha ha. Sounds like more trouble than it's worth. Let's hope they fix it soon.

Vicki said...

Jill, I came back to your post to show the calico cat to my son. It made me realize that everyone needs a dashboard ornament that purrs.

L&D said...

Wow, those photos are breath-taking! I wish we had color like that here, but most of our landscape is evergreen. I suppose seeing green throughout winter is nothing to complain about, but still, sigh, it'd be nice to see some changing colors.

Also, the songs were very clever. I too sang along and giggled the whole way through. Your blog is just a big ball of FUN! I could just roll ya up and huck ya! AHAHAHAhAA.

Tiggie FOC said...

A cat as a purring dash board ornament?
I think I will go sit in the back of the closet for awhile until this phase of thinking blows over.

Vicki said...

I'm sorry, Tiggie. I didn't mean to offend or upset you. I just wish Spooky The Cat enjoyed riding in cars. Maybe then she'd be willing to travel to Texas for a visit.

Kathy said...

You are such a tease! I think the yellow tree is some sort of maple by it's leaves - or maybe a London Plain tree. The cat story is great! What a nice fellow and didn't that cat have a view? The song was OK too ;)

Jane Carlstrom said...

As always so enjoyed my visit to your world. Adore your stories and photography, so glad you are willing to share it beyond family. Hoping to see the trumpet flower in the newspaper.