Today marks the autumnal equinox, and whether or not you like “Pumpkin Spice” everything, there’s something special about taking a moment to acknowledge a new season of the year.
Here in New England, the pumpkins are ripening, the pick-your-own apple orchards are hopping, and cooler nights are following days that are still bright and warm. If there is a perfect time of year, this might be it!
The trees are beginning to feel the chill. Leaves are just starting to change, now, and soon they’ll put on a show of color and fill the air with brilliant confetti on breezy days. The old grizzled sugar maple at the edge of our yard has decided to get a jump on things, scattering yellow and orange around its feet already, a few weeks before its buddies will be doing the same.
I confess to having a penchant for soft colors; grays and blues feature in a lot of my artwork – but nature’s fiery autumn flare has its own appeal. So although my latest painting is steeped in cool gray mist, the trees are dressed in their fall finest.
Maybe they’re a few weeks early. Maybe I’m just a little too eager to say goodbye to summer and hello to autumn. Or maybe we – and that old sugar maple – are right on time.
