Back to orange.  I think of marigolds as spring-into-summer flowers, but there they were, at the side of the road.  Our weather has certainly held no hint of autumn, even SoCal autumn, as slight as that is.  But these marigolds turn orange into a golden rather than pumpkin hue, reminding me somehow of saffron.  Which is probably redder than this, but its intensity is what makes me feel their kinship.

Saffron: paella coming up somewhere in my cooking schedule these next weeks.  When I pull those dainty, delicate threads out of their teensy glass bottle, will I think of marigolds?