I Don't Get My Way, for Once

There were two reasons I went to Asheville for my vacation:

1. I was supposed to go on a cruise, but then Katrina hit New Orleans, so I couldn't leave out of there. And then the cruise line started using its ships to haul garbage or house refugees. I'm not complaining, I'm just explaining why I didn't go to Mexico as planned.

2. When I was a little kid, and we lived in upstate New York, my parents would take Joon and me out of school and drive us into Vermont so we could "see the leaves change." It was the most boring thing I ever did in my LIFE.

Now, though, that I don't live near any mountains, I miss the fall colors that surrounded us when we lived in the East. I love the crisp smell of brisk temperatures and how, everywhere you look, there's something orange, whether it's a pumpkin or a maple leaf or a UT sweatshirt. And even though Randomville has trees, it's just not the same when you look off into the distance and see ... a highway. Or the Random High School football scoreboard. Or Sonic.

So I was gonna go east and see some leaves changing color, dang it!

Only ... for the first time in like, FORTY YEARS, fall came late to Asheville. I'm sure that RIGHT NOW, the very week after I was there, the leaves are breaking out in their fiery colors and I AM MISSING IT.

Well, that is the Luck of the Flowers for you.