foliage season

The fall foliage season here in Vermont animates life not only for the many visitors, but also for those of us who experience it every year. I know I wrote about the leaves the other day, but there's still much that can be said.

Every year about this time of year, the Pleiades appear in the night sky in the east. You can count on it. Not so with the foliage season. Some years the leaves are spectacular, some years the colors are muted. Actually we have had a long string of beautiful autumns, and like so much of this process, no one really knows why some years are good, and some years are not. 

The general rule of thumb is that the peak of the season occurs around Columbus Day, about the middle of October. The last couple of years, however, the peak has happened later in October. You might think that global warming might play a part in that. This year, however, it seems that the color is already approaching peak, a couple of weeks early. It's been a very dry summer, and we had a spate of really cold days and nights about a week ago. Maybe those things are having an effect. It's really a special moment when the leaves start to unwrap themselves. You really don't know what you're going to get until it actually happens, sort of like opening up your presents on Christmas Day. It already looks like it's going to be another great year.

Yesterday Allyn and I took our usual walk around the block. Taking a walk this time of year elicits feeling of joy and gratitude. People come from thousands of miles away in order to see what is literally right out our back door.

Starting out, we noticed how the lane was covered with a carpet of leaves.

 

Turning right towards the crossroads, we ran into some sumac. This very humble and ubiquitous bush actually has some of the brightest reds of all the varieties of bushes and trees.

It was a windy morning, and you could hear the raspy sound of dry leaves as they scuttled across the pavement. Leaves are not only carpeting Kahle Road, but also the bottom of the Ira Creek.

As the leaves lighten, they contrast beautifully with the darkness of the branches.

The bright ones seem to generate their own light. Bright leaves with the dark green background of pines, makes for a wonderful scene.

We are supposed to have a number of rainy days, and that will knock many of the leaves off the trees. The beauty that we have been experiencing has been a wonderful respite from what has been a very difficult year for all of us.