Yard thoughts

We had a few shower-y nights last week, so things are a tad greener around here, but not much. What I thought was a dying oak tree is apparently a small sampling of what is going on in the area. The neighbor who mows my lawn said he heard on one of the local shows that the trees are all going dormant due to the severe water shortage. Some of them are just turning brown, like my oak, and some are turning colors early, like this one in our yard:


So the leaf-peepers may be disappointed this year, as the colors might not be there, or be so early, that those who typically come the second and third weeks of October miss them. I haven't been up on the Blue Ridge Parkway yet, but the show reported some colors changing already.



While wandering around the yard, I found this sole flower hiding under one of the little trees:


It appears to be some sort of lily, but a down-facing one, and it had no siblings. Spunky little thing, don't you think?


I hope it comes back next year and brings some friends.