Autumn leaf season: color changes, leaf showers in the cool breezes, carpets of crunchy leaves to walk through, opening sky, thinning shade. Leaf blowers and their noise pollution.
Living as far south as we do, the leaves don't begin to change color until the tail end of October or early November. Some years it may start sooner, some years, later. By the end of November, the deciduous trees are usually bare.
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The beginning of Leaf Season. The acorns have been falling for awhile
and the goats will spend most of the day hunting them in the leaves. |
When I was a little girl, my father told me it was the length of daylight that triggered the change. If that were the case, wouldn't it happen at the same time every year? I do believe length of day has something to do with it, but there seem to be other factors as well: temperature? rainfall? soil nutrients? humidity? Or some ancient secret that only the trees know?
Our property doesn't have a lot of trees that turn brilliant colors. Many just turn yellowish-brown before falling to the ground. I have noticed, too, that in different years the leaves can display different colors. We have a maple tree, for example, that one year turned bright orange! But it hasn't done it since then; mostly it turns shades of yellow. And some years the colors are brighter than others. I suspect that has to do with rainfall, of which we didn't get much in October except for three inches courtesy of Hurricane Isaias.
About half of our five acres is in woods. So I have a lovely place to take walks, take the goats for browsing, and hunt for bits of color.
There is something exceedingly peaceful about being amongst the trees. It is said that the ancient Druids esteemed groves of trees as special meeting places. I think I understand why. And isn't it interesting that the old European cathedrals often have tall stone pillars and branch-like supports for their high, arched ceilings? Almost like a human-made grove of trees. Both foster an atmosphere conducive to quiet contemplation.
When the leaves are gone, we'll lose our visual and sound buffer. The neighbors' lights and daily noises will be there to experience more noticeably. We'll lose the shade which is appreciated in summer, but it's the time of year when the warm sunshine is welcome. Soon I'll start taking the garden cart to the leafy areas and collecting dried leaves to mulch the garden beds for winter.
How's your autumn leaf season going? Are they still on the trees or on the ground? Are you enjoying the change of weather?
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