What Are Your Favorite Harbingers of Fall?

[ctyanky]

As the days are getting shorter and the first day of fall is just weeks away, I started thinking about all the special things that signal the change of the season from summer to autumn.

Most of my harbingers of fall are the result of my five senses working in conjunction with autumn's arrival. Some of my favorites include that musky aroma of the earth and leaves that saturates the evening air, that heavenly smell of woodsmoke from a neighbor's woodstove and the honking of geese as they fly overhead in their V formation in the early morning. I love stooping down and picking up my first red maple leaf that has drifted to the ground in front of me – I just can't help smiling with delight! Every year I look forward to turning the calendar over to September!

Hay bales in the fields, pumpkin and guord stands popping up at the farmstands, Indian corn and dried corn stalk displays and rows of colorful mums. Clear, cool nights and sparkling, crisp blue bird days. Warm cider doughnuts and apple fritters, pumpkin pie with lots of whipped cream. Hayrides to the pumpkin patch.

The full harvest moon, the first hard frost. Arriving in Vermont for my foliage vacation!

With all my senses, I savor this delicious season most of all. My autumnal glow has begun!

Yes! Our glorious season is about to unfold!

[wentworth]

I'll take any harbingers I can get, just as long as the Fall is a good one with beautiful colors,Vermont is world famous for them

[ctyanky]

I'm looking forward to wearing my leggings, red and black checked shirt, fleece vest and my LLBEAN boots! Still too warm but waiting for the big day!

[Colorado Mom]

When I hear the band playing at the school from my house, it's a reminder that fall is around the corner. Makes me so happy! Cooler temps, windows open, time for sweatshirts and burning my fireplace on a cool night...love that smell!
Pumpkins of all colors shapes and sizes, mums, the first sign of the maple tree turning in my yard. My favorite fall candles making my house smell so yummy.
Watching the pumpkin patch grow in my backyard and remembering how much fun the grandkids had planting those seeds. The smile on their faces when they see the first pumpkin....oh the precious memories!!
Pumpkin pancakes on a rainy night, my famous pumpkin cookies being requested at the first signs of fall. Football parties with family food and drinks(they all go together)
I think since I grew up on a farm, fall also meant things were starting to slow down a bit as it was getting dark earlier. Dad would come in the house sooner which meant more family time. Funny how things from your childhood stick with you through the years.
I could go on and on.....fall is my absolute favorite time of the year, always will be. And Vermont is my favorite place to be, now if I could just find a cute little cabin to buy...always looking

[ctyanky]

Hi Colorado Mom: this is just wonderful! I love everything you have written here. And those pumpkin cookies? Yum!

The harbinger I most relate to was your growing up on a farm, although I didn't actually grow up on one, but close. Such a wonderful experience packed with memories. My Dad was a dairy farmer in his early years in rural Connecticut and he and his Dad delivered raw milk in glass bottles to the neighborhood to those metal tins people put on their front stoop. I have some pics that I will cherish always. When we grew up, the farm was gone but we played in the barn and those "cow" "hay" and "barn" smells lingered. The concrete floors had marks from the cows and the hookups were still embedded in the walls. The barn still had life in it if you can relate, and I loved going in there and imagining what it was like for the cows and my Dad and Grandpa during those days. The cow paths to the fields were still downtrodden. I felt sad that when we moved, it was torn down. But the memories of it all still remains with me. I wish I had that metal tin the bottles used to be put in because I remember it on the side porch! I'm sure it was tossed.

When I go into barns now (and I spent a lot of time in a dairy barn yesterday), the memories come back to me. It is so special! Thanks for your lovely reply! CT

[ctyanky]

PS I hope you find your little cabin! Keep looking! Never say never. When you least expect it, it will sing to you!

[Colorado Mom]

I can relate CT!! I know that's why the big red barns on the hillsides with cattle in the background mean so much to me. It brings back great memories. My Dad was a simple hardworking man that loved his life on the farm. We went to CO every summer after wheat harvest for a week but that was the extent of his travels....had to get back to that farm lol All 3 of us kids now live in CO because of those memories. I only wish he would of had the opportunity to discover Vermont like I have but I'm sure he looks down on me while I'm roaming those hillsides and thinks WOW look what u have found!!!