Recently we drove to Miramar Beach to attend our youngest grandson's wedding.  Long drive for us old folks.  And I admit I was nervous about meeting the bride's family.  The bride, Jennifer, is an absolute sweetheart.  She and Bryan just belong together.  Her family was warm and welcoming.  The wedding was great.  They made sure we had a place to park in front of the house and a place I could sit and enjoy the wedding.

However, I didn't really intend to write about the wedding.  I kept thinking about the drive.  All on the interstate.  On the way up, I was nervous and did not notice very much.  On the way back, I began to notice the countryside.

From the time we got on Interstate 10 until we hit Tallahassee, the countryside was brown.  The pines and oaks were still in green coats.  But the summer grasses and wildflowers were a sea of brown.  With lots of leafless trees.

In Tallahassee the DOT had sown winter rye on all the embankments and medians.  It was a lovely lime green and tall enough to actually wave in the breeze.  Then it turned to a lighter shade of green.  As we traveled further east, I began to see more green trees.  The grasses were still brown of course.  The Florida Maples looked like they were covered with a light pink halo.

Further along the highway those maples begin to show more color.  There are a lot of tree farms along that area with pine trees in just about every size.  Some only a few feet tall to others that were many feet tall.

When we turned onto Interstate 75, things were greener still.  Leafless trees had that greenish tinge that shows up before the leaves.  And the maples were now a scarlet red with some a berry red and the blossoms were more pronounced.  They were lovely.  Grasses and summer wildflowers still brown.  They made a nice backdrop for the green (sown) grass and the green of the pines and oaks.



I wondered to myself how many travelers really saw the colors and textures.  I hope some of them did.