Autumn Leaves

Hello All,
I am so fortunate to live in an
area, the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia,
that usually has beautiful autumn leaves.
People from all over the east coast come
on journeys to see the changing of the
season to our area. We have local
festivals and celebrations in every
little town and village.
And we each have our own personal
celebrations and rituals.
In my family, we cut wood, clean up
the garden, have weekly small bonfires,
and war a bit about how the summer didn't turn out
like what we expected while we wonder how winter will be.
I am already planning Thanksgiving and Christmas while
I kick myself in the butt because I am thinking that far ahead.
I am really yearning to buy bird seed to feed the birds
that have already come to my back deck where I feed them
when the days become cool and the nights cooler.
And I am mourning the lost summer days, the friends
and family that has passed on that I can't share this
season with, and worrying about those who may not be
with me next year.
I, also, turn my attention to my soul, and realize
how weak, bitter, and unloving I can be. There are
people who don't understand me, that love has lost
its power and I simply cry because I love them and
we are now strangers, cold friends or lost loves.
Those are my dry, dead, leaves that I must let the wind
decide where to scatter them, or I gather and burn them on
the spiritual bonfire of my soul. Sorry, don't mean
to enter a downer side, but...
A great joy is that the cool night clear the evening
and night sky. The night welcomes my wife and me
when we go out and see the autumn stars on
our deck, sipping a glass or two or three of cheer.
The stars are so bright and invite us to dream and
also...also to be in this wonderful moment and carry on.
Tell us of how autumn is in your area.
Take Care,
Fieldthistle

Field, you are so poetic! I love your writing! Autumn really hasn't begun here in Northern Illinois, infact the last 4 days or so have been back in the 80's with a hazy humidity in the air. Autumn reminds me of my younger days spent in Northern Wisconsin where you can sit by the lake at night and the reflection of all the stars in the sky are doubled on still dark water. We don't see many stars anymore with all the light pollution here but 2 weeks ago we spent a few nights at a country inn outside of Galena Illinois. About 1 am I woke and looked out and could see the Belt of Orion on the horizon, I got up and went out onto the balcony and saw more stars than I have seen in years, no manmade lights visable to me. Sadly, 5 hours later would yield to the beginning of all of the rain from hurricane Ike! We wound up with 10 inches of rain!

Hello All,
Kland01s, I wish you had a place in your profile to
send e-mails. I just wished to say you are poetic.
"all the stars in the sky are doubled on still dark water,"
is beautiful and I can see it.
I, too, am a lover of witnessing the Belt of Orion.
The presence of Orion in the sky tells me autumn is here.
It is a friend that makes the changes of the season
comforting.
Take Care,
Fieldthistle

Thistle,

I'm lucky, like you, to live near the mountains of east TN. I am taking my in-laws and my wife on a trip along the Blue Ridge Pkwy at the end of October. I've got a really neat trip planned and looking forward to hitting the Shenadoah region. It's beautiful all year long!

We, too are doing our fall ritual.Trimming trees, cutting back plants, enjoying bonfires in the darkness of the night.I love the warm days, but savor the cool nights.The birds are really packing in their feed in preparation for winter,and we marvel at watching them...

Since leaving the NYC area, Fall is the season I miss the most. Down here in Central FL, I'm still keeping an eye on the Weather Chan. to see if I need to put up the hurricane shutters.

The 4 days of rain up here in the northeast has taken its toll on the foliage.

Fieldthistle, you don't have to burn those dry, dead leaves, just let the wind blow them away.

The 2011 foliage season here in Massachusetts is average at best. If you are coming in this weekend, far Western Mass is about done, but there will still be a few pockets of color on I-90, especially from I-84 east. There is still some green and early color too. A lot of the clam/ice cream shacks closed after Columbus Day, but there are still plenty of places to stop. Some of the press incorrectly reported a poor pumpkin crop, but in this area, at least, all the farm stands seem to have a good supply at fair prices.

Pretty nice in west central Indiana here too. Have the covered Bridge Festivel going on.

Getting ready for four months of crappy weather.

I dont know about Chicago, but in the Milwaukee area we are getting ready for 5-6 months of crappy weather!

I know it was an older post by fieldthistle that started this thread.
 
Rereading it reminds me of how much he is missed.  Brother Bear if you are out there WE MISS YOU!
 
The leaves here this year were BLAHHHHHHHHHHH it was so dry for most of later summer months and then we have had to decent wind events most of ours are brown and blah or gone.
 
Today is a raw day mid 40's, gusty winds, and drizzle.  A perfect day for Chili and a good book.  No peace in the house tonight my son is on the start of his "fall break" no class friday or monday. ARRRRRRRGGGHH!

It's not Calif. weather but I'm pretty happy with what we get. 3 month of cold winter, 3 months of hot and humid summer and 6 months of really nice spring and fall. Calif was really hot for about 5 month, really cool for 2 and OK for another 5.

Too much rain has dulled all the displays this year around here, and in Western Pennsylvania.
 

It's been gorgeous all around east Tennessee.  My wife and I have been out the past 2 weekends photographing and enjoying in the beauty of nature.  Like Fieldthistle I feel blessed to live where other people take a week off to vacation.

We just arrived home to Minnesota this afternoon after driving through home from Florida through Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. We camped and hiked the Appalachian Trail in the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia at its peak. My general observation is the fall colors seem to be more vivid in the northern states than the southern states. I think because of the higher abundance of Maples and Aspens. I was surprised how vivid the Mississippi River hillsides were near La Crosse, WI on our way home today even past its peak. It was a later autumn than usual. I was also very surprised to arrive home to find our Sugar Maples in our woods still mostly had their leaves. I thought the trees would have been bare by now in Minnesota. From all reports I missed a spectacular fall at home this year. But heck, I was on the beaches of Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas for a few weeks.
 
Last fall we drove home through Colorado when the Aspen trees were at their peak in the mountains and it was snowing to boot. That was an absolutely spectacular scene.
 
The south is better in the spring. There are many more flowering trees than in the north. The desert southwest is also beautiful in the early spring. My observations after driving over 20,000 miles on the blue highways this past year for over 100 days mostly in the spring and fall from Palm Springs, CA to Washington DC, to Key West, FL to the end of the Gunflint Trail, MN at the Canadian border.