Quintessential Autumn

Today's blog topic:
Share one of your favorite fall memories with us, or something you look forward to each fall.

Boothe Park, Stratford, CT ©Heidi Nelson

 If you search Google Images for "autumn in New England" you return dozens of breath-taking photos filled with fiery hues. Picturesque foliage, ablaze with color.

Before I moved to the East Coast those were images of a mythical season. A season found only in books and movies. I had experienced fall, but it was nothing like that. Not where I lived anyway.
 A season couldn't be as glorious as the pictures depict, could it?

Let me tell you, it is all of that and so much more! It is not fall…. it is Autumn. And it does not last long. 

Image from www.ThisIsCT.net Photo Gallery

Autumn in Connecticut is this brief period between the humidity of summer and the cold Nor'easter of winter. The sky is a bright, cloudless, clear blue. Everything feels scrubbed clean; fresh and new. The leaves of the trees turn to brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow; their last hurrah before winter.
Outside, the air is seasoned with the smell of wood burning stoves and the aroma of pumpkin, cinnamon and apples drift out of the local shops. Driving through town you spot porches neatly dressed with hearty mums, corn stalks and pumpkins and hear the crunch of fallen leaves beneath pedestrian's feet.

Autumn is what I love most about Connecticut. As I drove to work each morning I would smile to myself, spotting the first batch of leaves that were starting to turn. The full force and color of fall lasts 2-3 weeks at best. But for that short time, you feel as if you are living inside a folk art picture.

Be sure to read all of the great blog posts that others wrote on this topic.