It’s that time of year again when the leaves have been changing their colors from green to red, orange, peach, yellow, or purple, then finally over to brown. Peak foliage is generally from beginning to mid-October, and it’s a busy time for shops here in New England. While my personal favorite time of year is that bridge between late spring and early summer with the chickadees rejoicing, the warming weather, and the leaf buds on the trees are that light green color (technically spring green), there’s something very special about autumn in New England. Besides the obvious with bright beautiful colors on the trees, you may also notice that wonderful faint smell of decaying leaves on the ground, more fog in the mornings before the sun burns it away, and a little more quietude in the air. One of our daughter’s favorite activities in the fall is jumping into leaf piles! Living up on a hill and on a dirt road has its advantages for all the things I mentioned. Even though I’ve lived here my entire life, I still want to take photos of the landscape most days.
So how and why does this change of color occur? Let’s break it down a little. Trees notice the cooler weather and when there’s less sunlight during the day. These clues tell the tree to stop producing the green pigment chlorophyll. Other always-present pigments now shine through: carotenoids for yellow and orange, and anthocyanin (formed by trapped sugars in the leaves) for red and purple (https://portal.ct.gov/deep/forestry/foliage/why-leaves-change-color#:~:text=The%20chlorophyll%20breaks%20down%20and,displays%20of%20color%20like%20Connecticut’s.). The tree will continue to fall into its wintery slumber until the leaves fall off the tree. A simple process that allows us to view this change with wide eyes.
New England is especially known for its changing of the seasons, and is often equated to the stages of a life cycle: springtime represents new life or rebirth, summer is growth and abundance, fall represents maturity and transition, and the winter is for reflection and endings, or death, if you want that thrown in your face. Wash, rinse, repeat. There’s another odd thing about the fall that some love, but others groan about, and it’s that this is also the season of pumpkin spice everything. Wait a minute, when did pumpkin spice become such a trend? Haven’t we gone a little overboard with this now? We have pumpkin spice lattes and teas, Pumpkin Spice Goldfish, Pumpkin Spice Cheerios, pumpkin spice dish detergent, pumpkin spice popcorn, and the list goes on. I guess there are some things about the fall that might be taken advantage of a little too much. Along with that, there’s a meme floating out there that I always found funny, and that is about a fake pumpkin spice Narcan product.
There is something I specifically want to bring up about fall foliage, and that is the topic of leaf peepers. You might be reading this yourself, knowing that you are one of those people. First of all, we’ve had a fairly severe drought this year in 2025, which means that with less moisture in the air, we’re sort of having an earlier and potentially shorter foliage season, and the colors on the trees don’t seem to be quite as vibrant as usual. Secondly, when you do come, we love your business as you help the Vermont economy! About 2.5 million visitors come to Vermont each year and spend approximately 500 million dollars. We graciously thank you for that. Now, I’m sure most of you are respectful of our people and our land, but with 2.5 million visitors, there are inevitably going to be some outliers. There are stories of trespassers on personal property, urination on lawns, trampled gardens, littering, excessive traffic and accidents, and aggression towards the locals, only to get that perfect photo. This has led to some local towns having to take action to prevent this aggressiveness and disrespect by closing roads entirely, such as in Pomfret, VT. All we ask is that you respect where you are coming to, and you will be greeted with a smile and a handshake in return.
I found this Native American – or First Nation – quote that resounded with me. It’s simple and to the point. It goes:
“When we show our respect for other living things, they respond with respect for us.”
-Arapaho proverb
That quote can certainly be applied to all facets of life, and they are good words to live by. On that note, what are some of your favorite things about the fall? Please comment below!
