What is your favourite thing about autumn?
Ah, October...the real start of autumn.
September is a transitional month, the lingering summer gradually giving way to the cool crispness of autumn. But by October, there is no more pretense, it is truly fall.
I live in a suburb that likes to pretend it's still a rural farming community. Right behind my house is a "nature preserve", 18 undeveloped acres of woodlands, landlocked, that separate one neighborhood from another. In the summer I can hear the neighbors on the other side of the woods but cannot see them; their houses become visible only when winter sets in and the trees are bare.
In the next few weeks those woods will come alive, the fall foliage will peak around the end of this month. Brilliant, beautiful colors. There's a photo of me somewhere, taken in October 1990, just before Jen was born, standing in the back yard, the crisp autumn leaves a perfect backdrop for my ripening body.
Most of the commercial farms that were in the area have closed and moved on, but there's still a family-owned farm selling produce from a stand...I go there for apples, for varieties you can't find in the supermarket.
Halloween decorations are starting to appear. There's a house I know, about halfway between my house and Drew's, where the owners take Halloween very seriously. They actually started putting up their elaborate display at the end of September -- the yard is haunted by zombies and vampires and jack o'lanterns. I remember being a child, going to one of the farmstands and picking pumpkins to decorate for our front porch. I remember taking my children to those same farmstands so they could pick their pumpkins.
Such a wonderful season...if I ever moved south, to Florida or whatever, I'd never miss winter, but I'd pine for fall...
September is a transitional month, the lingering summer gradually giving way to the cool crispness of autumn. But by October, there is no more pretense, it is truly fall.
I live in a suburb that likes to pretend it's still a rural farming community. Right behind my house is a "nature preserve", 18 undeveloped acres of woodlands, landlocked, that separate one neighborhood from another. In the summer I can hear the neighbors on the other side of the woods but cannot see them; their houses become visible only when winter sets in and the trees are bare.
In the next few weeks those woods will come alive, the fall foliage will peak around the end of this month. Brilliant, beautiful colors. There's a photo of me somewhere, taken in October 1990, just before Jen was born, standing in the back yard, the crisp autumn leaves a perfect backdrop for my ripening body.
Most of the commercial farms that were in the area have closed and moved on, but there's still a family-owned farm selling produce from a stand...I go there for apples, for varieties you can't find in the supermarket.
Halloween decorations are starting to appear. There's a house I know, about halfway between my house and Drew's, where the owners take Halloween very seriously. They actually started putting up their elaborate display at the end of September -- the yard is haunted by zombies and vampires and jack o'lanterns. I remember being a child, going to one of the farmstands and picking pumpkins to decorate for our front porch. I remember taking my children to those same farmstands so they could pick their pumpkins.
Such a wonderful season...if I ever moved south, to Florida or whatever, I'd never miss winter, but I'd pine for fall...
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