Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Reflections On A Northeastern Autumn

Now Playing -  
Ain't No Reason  by Brett Dennen

Life - 

This has been our first Autumn in a state that actually has something close to the actual definition of that season, and it's been intriguing.

Growing up in Idaho, Autumn was a very different season. Things would typically stay hot until late August, with temperatures ranging between 80 and 100 degrees during the day, and dropping to much cooler temperatures, often as low as 50 degrees at night. Then, like magic, sometime in late August, early September, things would cool off. It wasn't as dramatic as overnight, but pretty quick. You'd go from sleeping with your windows open to covering the tomatoes against freezing within the course of a few days. 

This is the closest thing I have to a photo of Pocatello, ID in Autumn. It is not a prime photo taking time.

Then everything froze. One night, instead of hitting around 40, we'd get a night of 25 degrees, the ground would be covered in frost whorls and all of the tree leaves, that had just started thinking about changing colors would be dead, hanging onto the branches with the sparest of grips. Eventually, the winds would pick up and blast those dead, brown leaves to the ground. Then, by Halloween, we'd be planning our costumes around whether or not our winter coats could fit under them.

In Maine, as expected, the foliage was outstanding. This was supposedly a bad year for "Leaf Peeping" as they call it out here, and it was gorgeous. We saw colors in every range, and on every growing plant around. Some were bright orange overnight, while others changed a branch at a time, transforming in leaps and hops. Temperatures stayed temperate and we got a lot more rain than I would have expected.
This was a photo taken from the window of the car, randomly in Maine.

They have a nice mix of things too. In addition to vivid pinks and reds, almost fluorescent yellows and rich, deep browns and oranges, the peeks of pine green added texture and depth. We loved it. We took day trips, just driving along the roads, not headed to the prime Peeping sites, where tourists flock to look at dying trees. We just headed anywhere we felt, and really enjoyed it.

Now, in the middle of November, when Pocatello is seeing snow, it's still Autumn here. It's been raining for a day or two, and the grass is still green in spots. I've worn my coat a few days and my hat a few too, but I've only seen frost a few mornings. For most of my life, I really wondered at the Thanksgiving decorations that I put up on the walls. Corn stalks, pumpkins, gourds... And while I do think it's interesting that nationwide, that's become more of an early fall decor thing, with Christmas being all there is after Nov. 1st, it makes more sense out here, where the leaves aren't already into their deep decomposing stages, the pumpkins outside haven't frozen and split and there isn't a foot of snow on the ground.

So overall, I'd have to give Maine's Autumns pretty high marks. Good on ye, Maine.

ROUS Family Updates!
Check out Neal Kristopher's blog in the next few days for a post about agents and the importance of respecting and cherishing them.



I've also posted a few new reviews,


And coming soon on Deeply Dapper - Chompy, the final photos!

And next time here, the long delayed continuation of my In-Laws vacation to Maine!


Weighty Matters - 
My Current Weight - 297
Progress Thus Far -   
Bah. I think the holidays could be a bad time for this, but I'll keep posting it. If only to force myself to think about it.




  Writing - 


This is my month of NaNoWriMo. Green means a good word day, dark red means a bad one. It's kind of funny how similar the weeks have been. Doing okay though...  I like my story a lot.


 
The Last Sentence - 

Its front hoof kicks feebly once, then nothing.
 
From - "Mr. Pale Steps Out" (WIP)

6 comments:

randymeiss said...

I had the opportunity to go to Portland, Oregon in the Fall, for a conference several years ago. The colors were absolutely astounding, I never knew how vibrant leaves could be.

You should post Lindsay's word count also so your devoted readers can see who's winning the race.

Steve at Random said...

In ND, autumn can be one afternoon. However, this year we had a beautiful fall. October was especially nice. Now as we near Thanksgiving, there is a prediction of snow accumulation, but, hey, this is North Dakota. Can't be summer all the time.

Sherry said...

I'm glad that you are finding the splendor of Autumn in Maine. It was nice here. The Japanese really overdo the whole leaf changing watching thing. It's nice, but a little overdone perhaps. I think Autumn is one of the prettier seasons. Spring is a tie with it though. ...and winter...and summer. Okay, I just like seasons. All of them.

I wouldn't worry too much about the weight. If you take it too often, it'll become disparaging. And that ain't good. Just take it as it comes and keep trying. If you slip up a bit, forgive yourself. Honestly, your body fat percentage and how you FEEL about yourself are the most important. Don't give up, but forgive yourself. Losing weight should be a slow process. If you lose it too quickly, you'll end up like me with all my extra skin, and if you do it unhealthily you could actually make yourself LESS healthy than you were before. Remember, we're all rooting for you! Especially Pooka. Pooka's the good sort of fellow.

Unknown said...

Randy - Oregon is gorgeous! we went there last autumn and loved it. I would post hers, but I'm soundly trouncing her, despite my crappy word count so far...

Steve - I thought it was winter in ND 11 months of the year!

Sherry - Hhahah Japan does look gorgeous. What isn't covered in giant robo footprints, that is.

Also, thanks for the kind words. You and my wife are pretty inspirational!

Anonymous said...

I blogged about this recently. In Florida it stays hot until October, then we get flashes of cold fronts. We get dull brown leaves on the ground, not the pretty colors.

Unknown said...

I bet Florida doea have an entirely new set of rules! That was one thing we'd mistakenly assumed with moving here is that things would be pretty similar.

Florida doesn't sound that pleasant to me, but It's gotta have some pluses, right? hahah