Welcome Autumn

My favorite time of the year is nearly upon us. It begins for me when the fall colors peak, and ends when it becomes uncomfortable to be outside, no matter how much I bundle up. Typically, October 1st to December 1st is where it’s at for me.

Perhaps the reason I live for the autumn is the grandeur of the trees. Sure it’s exciting when the leaves first appear in the spring; that lime-green color is a sure sign that I’ll soon be able to shed the long johns and jacket and move into a sweatshirt. I like spring but the mud and rain unnerve me at times. The summer is nice too, but my allergies and the humidity tend to keep me indoors and away from my favorite places. Autumn is definitely where I am most inspired.

The trees have struggled all year to first suck nutrients and water from the ground to produce leaves for photosynthesis. They then flower and begin seed development. After a long hot summer, variable weather, insect attack, and other hazards, they are finally ready to begin their golden age. Autumn is the time to let go of their offspring, enjoy the comfortable temps, shed all of the baggage of that year’s activities, and simply enjoy life until eventual dormancy. The trees seem proud in the autumn after many months of hard work. A year for a tree is somewhat akin to a human life-cycle.

The Minnesota River Valley sees awesome color in the fall. The Sugar Maples turn a pumpkin-orange. Aspens and cottonwoods blanket the ground with bright yellow. The red oaks show a marble swirl of deep red and green with a glossy wax-like sheen. Blue-beeches and ironwoods are the color of rust, bur oak leaves turn brown and crunchy, and the evergreens stay true to their name.

Leaves aren’t the only color in the fall. I am generally in a great mood when I can go out to the backyard and pick some Haralsons, a blend of red and green found only in a Haralson. The grey Dogwood defies its namesake by producing bright white berries in a bed of purple-red leaves. The sunsets are more dramatic as winter approaches, and we even start to see white falling from the sky (a welcome sight until about mid-February)

Wildlife shows us much color ‘round this time of year with all of the migrating birds, cackling rooster pheasants, bald eagles soaring, and the white tail of a buck running away from a near miss.

I’m sure my fellow construction workers can testify to the joy of working outside on a 50 degree day in a hooded sweatshirt; there is no better time for outdoor work in my opinion. Hunters, I know you share my passion for watching the woods wake up from a tree stand or duck blind.

The only downfall I see to autumn is the decreasing hours of sun in which to enjoy the outdoors. It’s 8:00pm right now and pretty much totally dark outside. Oh yeah, and it means winter is coming. Winter is great, but the cold gets old.

Autumns tends to bring us Hendersonites into the outdoors, whether it is during work or play. I think we all notice more nature in the fall, like the morning activities of a squirrel from a deer stand, a flock of birds flying overhead when chain sawing firewood, a muskrat hut in a cattail marsh on a pheasant hunt, a Monet-like tapestry of leaves on the ground on a nature trail, and the thin layers of ice developing on a ravine stream. There is so much to see, but it just doesn’t last long enough!