Scenes of Vermont Forums

As we welcome the first day of summer today, we also wait in anticipation for our next season. In just three short months, the first day of fall arrives! It's hard to believe that going forward, the days will slowly start to decrease in sunlight hours. With this shortening, right up until the autumnal equinox, subtle hints of change will appear right before you.

Keep your eyes peeled upward and watch the tops of the tree canopies for an ever so slight change in the chlorophyll when the leaves start to dull in color. Perhaps a glimpse of orange or red will appear at the very tips of the leaves. The sumac will burst open in fire engine red as if in a race against all the other foliage. Sometimes this occurs as early as August. Suddenly, a cool night arrives in the lower 40s or even 30s, demanding a sweater or jacket to be added for brisk mornings or for evening strolls. Geese will fly in formation overhead to the south and acorns will start to drop. Apple picking arrives, pumpkins appear in the fields, and that intoxicating smell of the changing earth will waft by you in a fleeting second. Savor it! You might even find yourself singing along to Cheryl Wheeler's famous hit, “When Autumn Comes to New England”! Now close your eyes and let all these images of fall flirt with your senses. Ahhh, I can almost step right into fall just thinking about it!

Growing up in rural Connecticut, I felt these signs at an early age. No one had to teach me. Our backyard was a forest, my playground. My senses were on full alert to welcome my favorite time of year. (Mostly, because Halloween was part of the mix). Fall was the real deal in my family. And all the excitement and activities that make up autumn in New England stayed with me through adulthood. I once mentioned here, that fall is my heart throb. I can never get enough of this most enchanting season that Mother Nature has gifted to us all.

Soon the winds of change will unfold. Before you know it, it will be here. Vermont's back roads are calling you! So...are you ready for fall in Vermont???? Glorious, awesome autumn! Bring it on

HAVE A BLISSFUL SUMMER EVERYONE! ctyanky

I've been spending the last few weekends up in the northwest hill towns of CT up near the NY border, and yesterday saw a few leaves on some random sumacs turning bright red! My heart skipped a beat!

Unfortunately, we are heading into our third or fourth heat wave of 90's starting today. Sigh...…… It's been an incredibly hot and humid summer but when we turn the calendar into August, I become hopeful that the cooler air will make an occasional appearance! I'm praying that Mother Nature will soon be running out of her storage of hot days because we are now entering abnormally dry conditions (not drought) in northern Connecticut. We really need some rain around here! And I'm already tired of AC! On a good note, the trees are still looking very healthy and lush and there are little to none dried up leaves scattered about.

Nonetheless, at least all the agricultural fairs are starting soon and I hope to get up to Vermont to sample a few!

Yo! Have you noticed the days getting shorter? We've lost 47 minutes of daylight since June 21st! I actually just realized it last night when I looked outside and saw blackness! I was a little surprised myself. It should even get a lot more noticeable by the end of August.

We just need to get past these hot and humid days and a series of 90's is again in the forecast for the coming week in southern NE, all weekend and next Monday. It's probably a few degrees cooler up north. We've had quite a bit of fast moving tropical downpours, brief storms and showery weather over the past week so the trees are still looking very healthy and lush and with little to none leaf drop. Only time will tell, but I think we are still in good shape.

One of the leaves of my rhody turned bright scarlett and I blurted out "yes!". Glad no one was around but I'm sure all my shrubs just rolled their eyes at me!

Time marches on!