I am showing my age here, but wasn't it Jimi Hendrix who wrote a song about a purple haze?

Me? I like the red haze.

You can see it now, in the woods that line the highways on your drive to work.

Against the backdrop of evergreens and the gray trunks and limbs of deciduous trees, there is the faintest cloud of red.

I am no arborist, so correct me if I am wrong, but I think that red haze comes from the buds of maple trees. The October Glory in my backyard has lots of them right now.

That red haze - more than the red breast of the robin - is the surest sign of spring for me.

Soon, perhaps by the first of May, the red haze will be replaced by the softest, green haze.

The green haze means the trees are leafing out. And that means spring is no longer just arriving. It means spring has taken hold and the long dark night of winter is behind us.

To paraphrase Jimi, "scuse me while I kiss the sky."

Photo credit: Susan Reimer