Daylight Savings Can S*ck It!

I've never been a fan of Daylight Savings Time. Probably because I have to get up very early for my job, and I'd rather have the light in the morning than the evening. But I get the whole energy-efficiency thing, so whatever.

Seeing that the sun comes up so very late here in Oxford, though, I am SO happy that Daylight Savings is over! Now I actually drive to work as the sun is coming up. I know sometimes it can be a pain in the butt to drive at sunrise, especially if you're headed east as I am in the morning. But I'll take a little sun in my eyes over pitch black darkness.

The tradeoff is that I now get views like these on my 7am drive:

And I don't worry so much about deer or other creatures running out of the darkness in front of my car on this country road.

That last photo's not so great, but I was trying to capture the "country" feel of my morning drive. Corn on the right, white picket fence on the left.

Another thing I want to say about Oxford (that has nothing to do with DST) is that fall lasts so long here compared to Boulder! When the leaves first started changing colors I felt like I had to spend every waking moment out in the woods in order to appreciate the fleeting beauty.

Turns out I've been drinking up those colors for a couple months now!! I love it. There is a greater variety of trees here than in Boulder, and they all change colors at different rates and times. And each species of tree has unique colors.

There are trees with dark, almost black, trunks and limbs with the brightest yellow leaves you have ever seen. They almost seem to glow from within. There are bushes that turn magenta... like, seriously magenta. My favorites are the trees that still have green leaves on the underside, then a rainbow of shades leading up to the top, from orange to pink to dark red. Also, there are HUGE trees here. Imagine yellow and orange trees towering over people's houses and yards. It's not the pretty little peek of color here and there that I had grown accustomed to in Boulder (and even in Oregon where there are more evergreens than deciduous).

While I haven't yet gotten out for a real photo expedition to capture it all, here are a few glimpses of the continuing fall color:

I have to be really careful as I'm driving because I'm constantly rubber-necking all these glorious trees.

Look at the variety of color in that one tree! And look at its size! This isn't even one of the biggest that I've seen.

Notice the color variation in this patch of forest.
Green, yellow, orange, purple. 

A magnificent view of my parking lot at work. I love those pops of bright red against the purple trees in the distance.

Anyway, I'm hoping to walk around town today, on my day off, to capture more of the colors before the color really does disappear. :( Fall is by far my favorite season, and I don't want it to end!