Seeing Red - October's Crimson Creeper

Evening temps tip-toed tantalizingly toward the thirties here on the edge of the Sandhills last weekend. 

And that brief dose of brisk autumn air has us seeing red today.

A low-lying little stand of sassafras has shed most of its own leaves in favor of a brilliant blanket of saw-toothed scarlet.

Virginia Creeper. 
Aptly named for her manner of movement, 
and a lovelier sight for the eyes by far than any name could conjure, 
clad as she is in such striking hues.

She crept up the fencepost in early spring, the better to climb the trunks and crawl out upon the limbs, encircling every available support throughout the long, hot months of summer,

attaining an inch at a time a proper perch from which to offer her autumn splendor. 

Lucky am I to have passed her by at just this moment...
October's crimson creeper.