The other day my friend Mary from Illinois wrote me with an autumn thought. “Have you noticed how much more colorful and beautiful the changing leaves on the trees are when it is gloomy. Somehow they seem to stand out much more beautifully.”

She has a point. It’s also interesting how the falling leaves cover the sidewalks and gutters, forming a colorful carpet that glistens all the more on a rainy day. So as to test Mary’s thesis, I got out the old cheap-o camera and got a picture of some poor soul in the rain amidst the falling leaves. The golden carpet of autumn does indeed seem to stand out in the gloom. But hey, you be the judge of that.