New England — Pleasures of Early Autumn

Fall has always been my favorite season, the start of my own yearly cycle with a late August birthday; the beginning of the Jewish New Year, a family celebration with an important element of spiritual introspection; and the beginning of the school year with its promise of more exposure to our historic, scientific, and cultural world treasure.

🍁The name “fall” first shows up in mid-16th century England, primarily at first as ‘the fall of the leaf,’ which was eventually shortened through usage to just “fall.”

In New England, seasons are distinct and sharply demarcated. Living in the Northeast, sometimes I mistakenly assume that the whole world needs clothing and supplies for each of four seasons.

Fall clothing means plaid flannel shirts and hiking boots, fall supplies include rakes and firewood, fall nourishment offers fresh Cortland apples, cider donuts, hot mulled cider, and pumpkin pie; fall celebrations include Halloween and apple-picking at local orchards.

The four-season year is typical only in mid-latitudes, whether in the Northern or Southern Hemispheres. This is the world I live in, a region known for its foliage that brightens from dominant summer greens to fiery reds, oranges, and yellows, spreading over mountain vistas in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and the Berkshires in western Massachusetts.

In this pandemic year, I’ve sought nearby areas to enjoy their natural beauty and walk freely without the anxiety provoked by walkers or runners who cross my path without putting on their masks.

Come with me on a tour of nearby venues for a walk in fresh air to benefit body and soul.

 

 

 

 

 

Appleton Farms

in Ipswich at dusk,

a peaceable kingdom

in troubled times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appleton is a

Trustee of Reservations

property dedicated

in perpetuity as a working

dairy and produce farm

with public access

in all seasons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heading to the

parking lot

before darkness falls

or we’ll be in trouble

navigating the

thousand acres

of pastoral landscape.

 

 

 

 

 

Frederick Law Olmstead in New England, our own 85 acre Central Park I didn’t know about (J. N. Phillips Preserve in Beverly).

 

 

 

 

Explorer,

searching for

signs of change—

early autumn walk

on the carriage path.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discovery deep in the forest, crumbling foundation of an abandoned estate property, overgrown and enhanced with graffiti.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apple-picking,

the velvet sheen

of the skin

before washing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colors in nature and

manufactured objects,

co-exist peacefully

in upstate New York

(2019 road trip).

 

 

 

 

 

Back home,

poppies near my front door,

showcasing cheerful

neon-orange petals

in August and September.

 

 

Reader, wherever you may be, take in what is positive in the change all around you. I wish for you to find moments of peace and respite along the tough road we are traveling.

 

🍁source: Atlas Obscura