To me, autumn never lasts long enough. I always want more foliage rides, walks to wade through rustling leaves, opportunities to watch tiny bees buzz around late-blooming asters, and more moments to glory in the breathtaking COLOR!

I’ve lived in New England nearly all my life, and my northern soul has never stopped craving this seasonal splendor.

Folks from away (you know who you are) may think that our reds, and yellows and oranges just hang out waiting for the tourist dollars to arrive. But our autumnal hues are the definition of ephemeral. If you don’t catch it at precisely the right moment, you’ll miss the show entirely.

Let me give you an example. This morning’s fog allowed only trickles of sun through but some of those rays caught the crimson leaves of this Virginia creeper just so, and once again, I caught my breath in awe. Five minutes later, the sun had moved on to the rest of his day, and that red? Faded from brilliant crimson glory to a lovely, mellow russet. By this afternoon, some of those leaves will have dropped to the ground to join others in making new earth for next year’s Virginia creeper.

This is all worth saving, isn’t it?