Today, while walking my dog, I finally saw it:
It’s the first sign of autumn. The plants and trees know better than I – but I’m still in denial. This is simply one leaf among many! There is no way – absolutely none – that during all of this warmth and sunlight the trees can be ready to shed their leaves. I don’t want to believe it, so I’ll keep walking.
The first day of autumn is officially Wednesday, September 23rd. It seems a long way off thinking about it in the way of dates and numbers, but it’s really less than two weeks away. Living in New Hampshire we can expect the normal splendid display of fiery colors across the forests and mountainous regions. Autumn in nature is a beautiful thing to behold.
If you don’t live in New Hampshire (or New England in general), you may have heard of our legendary foliage during autumn. If you catch it at the right time, you can view glorious displays of red, orange, and yellow leaves all mixing on the horizon. It’s like an artistic palette, and seeing it in real life is quite spectacular. We’ve become a little jaded living in NH and seeing it every year, but I think everyone here appreciates it in some aspect, whether it’s the “groan, winter is coming” aspect, or the “my, that is beautiful; let’s go pick some apples” aspect.
Autumn in New England is wonderful. With cooler weather, fun activities start popping up. With autumn comes Halloween, and everything involved in it. Scare attractions pop up left and right, and you can also partake in apple picking, pumpkin picking, hikes, and more. If you own a home or are at a property where you have to maintain your own landscaping, you’ll probably sigh and do a lot of raking. If you’re a kid, you’ll probably be looking for the best leaf piles to jump and play in.
Now’s the time to prepare for winter, but don’t forget to enjoy the autumn while you’re at it. Snow might be on the back of your mind living in New England (I know it’s always looming somewhere in my mind, even when it’s 90+ degrees outside), but relish where you live and enjoy what’s available in the short time it is. Autumn and spring are only short buffer seasons between summer and winter, and they don’t last very long. What will you being to enjoy autumn 2015? Do you do anything special to prepare yourself mentally for winter? What’s your favorite autumnal activity?
