Fresno's Fabulous Fall Foliage

I think Fresno gets a bad rap when it comes to weather. Sure, it's hot, but, hello, have you been to Phoenix or Palm Springs?? I lived in Phoenix for six years. It did not make me happy. So we we get a couple weeks of unbearably hot weather in summer, and a couple weeks of foggy drippy weather in winter (my favorite kind of days...., which probably explains why I'm in love with Seattle and Portland). But other than that, we spend a lot of time enjoying beautiful and balmy weather. Okay....maybe 81 degrees at the end of November is a LITTLE unreasonable and there is that little thing about crummy air quality. Nevertheless...

The other thing I'm always amazed at in Fresno is that no matter what time of the year, most businesses, office complexes, even gas stations, are beautifully landscaped. That's something you don't see in the Midwest.

So I know you're thinking, "and your point is....?"

My point is that last year Mark and I finally got to go see the fall colors on the East Coast. Having never been further east than Chicago, I couldn't wait to see the fall colors. At least seeing fall colors is what we were anticipating as we went from New York City to Montreal. Here is what we actually saw:

Green.

More green.

Hey, wait, is this actually the slighest tinge of fall color??

So today I went for a walk around my neighborhood here in Fresno, and this is what I saw:

This is what I'm talking about. *sigh* Now if only the temperature would cooperate a little...