Arboreal irony

This is a little bit hard to see, so click on the image to see a bigger version. I went to a park on Sunday in Suma, west of Kobe, and I encountered these two trees were there. On the left is a Japanese maple, and on the right is a "Juugatsu-zakura" - an October cherry, which apparently only flowers in the fall.

To anyone who has spent any time in Japan, this is a shocking juxtaposition, as the fiery hero of fall brandishes his vermilion foliage against an unlikely opponent, the undisputed champion of spring, wielding her delicate but poignant blossoms, blushed with the faintest suggestion of pink. Yeah, it's hard to see the blossoms in the picture. Keep in mind that this is an October cherry, and it's already what, like the end of November...

Anyway, big a cappella show coming up - I'll probably have more time for blogging once that's done.