“How beautiful the leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.” ~John Burroughs
Yesterday was summer. Felt like summer. Today is autumn. A chilly day with rain all day long. Sweater weather even while walking. Perhaps not if the clouds hadn’t been hiding the sun, but the temperature struggled to inch past 60 degrees after it had been right at home in the 80s. The trees will surely be thinking maybe it’s time to start dressing up for fall. Most haven’t yet. Some of the poplar tree leaves have turned yellow and turned loose to be the first to float down to the ground. But most everything is nice and green since the rains have been plentiful here in Kentucky. But rain or not, fall is here and we’ll soon be feasting our eyes on golden maples and eventually red oaks. So to celebrate autumn’s appearance here are a few pictures from past years. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to capture some later this year to add to my fall collection.
“And the sun took a step back, the leaves lulled themselves to sleep and autumn was awakened.” ~Raquel Franco
Seeing this picture I took of a cabin up in the Smokies has me thinking about all the cabins I’ve had in my Appalachian stories. But only These Healing Hills had an autumn season. Along a Storied Trail was full of snowflakes and winter. An Appalachian Summer was just what it said – summer. These Healing Hills covered several seasons. The fall scene is the sorghum making and then winter and ice showed up in that story too. Maybe I need to go back to the mountains for an autumn setting so I can wax poetic about the beautiful fall colors.
“Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting, and autumn a mosaic of them all.” ~Stanley Horowitz
“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.” ~Jim Bishop
This picture always makes me smile since I think it looks like a country girl’s jungle gym. I loved playing on grapevines when I was a kid and I’ve enjoyed introducing my grandchildren to the fun of grapevines too. We have plenty here on the farm for some swinging and climbing.
“It’s the first day of autumn! A time of hot chocolatey mornings, and toasty marshmallow evenings, and, best of all, leaping into leaves!” ~Winnie the Pooh
And, of course, there’s nothing much more fun for kids than jumping into a big pile of maple leaves. The grandkids have enjoyed the leaf piles in our yard and I’ve enjoyed their beautiful carpet of gold on the yard in the fall. Some years I’ve raked them up and carried them off down in the field or out to the garden. Mostly now though my husband mows them up if the kids don’t show up and want to rake up a pile or two.
“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.” ~Lauren DeStefano
What do you like best about the fall season?
Comments 14
I enjoy the weather cooling down and love to see the leaves turning pretty colors.
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I’m not in a hurry for it to cool down too much, Connie, but it is a pleasant change from hot and humid. I’m hoping these cool nights we’re having will get the trees started turning pretty colors.
Thank you for sharing these beautiful fall pics!! In the fall, I love the colors, the smell, and the quietness.
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It is quiet when you’re walking out in the woods or through a park, Lauren. Of course if you’re crunching through dry leaves then you’re making noise but that’s a good noise in the fall.
The cooler temperatures signal fall in Houston. While we do get some changing of leaf color, the cooler temperatures provide blessed relief from the intense summer heat. Eventually we get chilly temperatures in the morning and evening, but that’s really signaling the onset of winter here. So, stable, cooler and drier weather are so welcome here in Houston!
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I’m hoping for more color in the trees here this year, Suzanne. The last couple of falls have been sort of duds in the tree color. They just fell as though we were a southern state instead of one of those middle states. I guess to see the best fall colors you need to go up north. But the pleasant fall temperature are good. I like sweater weather. Not as fond of heavy overcoat weather. 🙂
I love all the fall colors and the way the air smells-it just doesn’t last long enough. Thankfully, I think there is something to love about every season though. I think fall is probably the prettiest time of year for scenery shots though with all of the colorful leaves in the trees and on the ground.
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I’m like you, Hope. I like some things about every season and of course a few things about every season I don’t like so much. Like cold icy winds in February and humid melting weather in the summer. But fall is pretty good all the way through and so is spring. But you’re right. There are plenty of photo ops in the fall.
Beautiful pictures and quotes. Fall colors are my favorite. I admit those colors are my favorites in clothes too. I remember piling up the leaves and jumping in them, the smells of the leaves and the smell of burning those piles when it was legal to do.
Our gum tree is starting to turn and drop leaves here in Missouri. And the crab apples are already quite brown. I like to watch the trees turn from my kitchen window. I can see across the highway to the woods. It seems peaceful.
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Glad you have a beautiful view out your window, Paula. Sometimes the trees in our front yard are a lovely pink red color and sometimes according to the weather, they just turn yellow and fall. But with the cool snap we’re having the next few days that should help paint the trees lovely fall colors.
We never burned leaves. Since we’re out here on a farm we just take them out to the field and let them compost naturally.
I love the cooler temperatures. We moved from VA to SC about four years ago. Today is nice and cool in the Lowcountry. Temps will rise later today. 🙂 Have a blessed day!
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My daughter lives in SC but not in what you call the Lowcountry, Melissa. She likes the weather there since it’s not as cold in the winter. This year her summer temps have been about the same as here in KY. There’s things to like about most every state, but my roots go deep in KY.
I like the colors of fall and….well that’s about it. I’m a spring and summer gal. Autumn is gorgeous, but it doesn’t last long enough. It seems like most years we only get a few days of it, and winter pushes its way in with a vengeance. But it sure is nice while it’s here!
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When I was younger, it seemed like October was always beautiful. Dry and pleasantly crisp with the trees brightening up the world, Lavon. But the last few years it seems like the trees don’t turn those pretty colors and the leaves just turn loose and fall. And sometimes we have summer temps and sometimes we have winter temps. I want those sweet Octobers I remember, but then maybe I’m just dreaming up those perfect days of fall.