The singer-songwriter Phil Ochs wrote a song which contained the line: "a journey through the universe ablaze with changes".
 I thought of it this morning when I looked at the Sumach Tree (Rhus typhina) near the back door. It's natural habitat is in North America but it springs up all over the place here. Actually it's one of those plants where it's debatable whether it's a big shrub or a small tree or possibly a giant weed. It spreads vigorously (by suckers) and grows very quickly. I pollard the one in the garden every year and it throws out branches 8 or 9 feet long in a season.
 In summer it's green with some not very conspicuous flowers and fruits but it's very deciduous. In mid-autumn the leaves really are a blaze of colour in fiery hues of yellow/orange/red. Then the leaves drop entirely leaving a skeleton of branches.
 It's sometimes called the Stag-Horn Sumach. The bare branches do have a resemblance to antlers and the bark is downy to the touch like the fuzz of fur on antlers.