Every spring, I desire revenge.
Spring comes to the entire rest of the northern hemisphere before it gets to us, you see.
For months, from February on, I look at your photos of snowdrops, of crocus, of hellebores and daffodils.
I see tiny buds sprouting on your trees and read your descriptions of warm, sweet-smelling breezes. All while my world and any promise of spring are still covered in drifts of snow. I get a little bitter, looking at your spring.
And, by the time spring arrives to me and my snowdrops and daffodils show their pretty faces, people are tired of looking at snowdrops and daffodils and have moved on from the rapture of spring.
It’s not just me—Facebook users and bloggers all over the Northeast know my pain.
But, this is the time of year we get our revenge!
Because we have autumn in the North Country of upstate New York, in the Adirondacks, and all over New England.
We have glorious, perfect autumn here. It comes early and seems to last and last.
We have apples. We have pumpkins. We have mountains and lakes and a sky that is Adirondack blue. Click on the thumbnail photos and drink it in!
Or at least the sky is Adirondack blue when it isn’t some moody and evocative shade of autumn.
We have oaks and poplars, and birches and beeches, and ash trees, and their leaves all turn fabulous colors.
But, more important, we have maple trees.
We have maples that turn flaming red and orange. They aren’t satisfied with giving us the gift of sap for maple syrup in the spring. Every fall, the maple trees up the ante on themselves, and they give us glory.
This photo is not the most spectacular but it shows exactly what this part of the world looks like right now. All the ingredients—the colorful foothills of the Adirondacks, the remnants of corn that has been stored as ensilage for cows, the bright trees against an Adirondack blue sky, and the ladder reaching into an apple tree, providing access to that perfect autumn fruit.
So, in the spring, when you are parading your colors and beauty, I’ll be enjoying them. But, I’ll also be sighing and waiting for mine, in October.
Revenge is sweet.
I wish I could say I took this photo but it’s by Brendan Wiltse. https://www.facebook.com/brendan.wiltse.photography/
Yes, autumn in the northeast is usually glorious, but it’s nature’s way to give us a shred of hope to cling to before winter sets in.
Too true–and the higher elevations in the Adirondacks are supposed to get 3-6 inches of snow this weekend. Not quite ready for that . . . .
Waaaaaat! Oh my gosh.
And one day I shall come and see it for myself. Glorious photographs.
I hope you do! And I also hope I get to your beautiful part of the world one day!
Lol – all’s well in love and seasons! 🙂
Isn’t it nice we all have something we can brag on??
Hate to brag, but Central Coast California, in addition to having, in the words of Allen Drury “lazy, endless spring” has excellent autumns too, with liquidamber trees pretending to be maples in scarlet and gold, fountains of yellow-leaved gingkos, orange-leaved tallow trees, and incredibly bright red pistache trees lining our streets, On the coast we don’t have hills covered with color (though the aspens are gorgeously golden in the Sierras) and we don’t have spectacular snow and ice, but then our mud season only lasts three weeks. Come and see us!
You make it sound like heaven! Isn’t it nice that we all seem to love where we live? Such a varied, beautiful country we have, in spite of its flaws . . .
Lol! I love your revenge. So glad the north and south are so different,now I can enjoy your autumn,as autumn here has a few nice points,nothing like yours though . Beautiful,beautiful photos!!
Thanks, Deb–I didn’t think I was getting very good photos this year but some of them make me very happy. Most of the leaves in New York are currently in my driveway–it’s been a very blustery and rainy couple of days!
So very true, I loved this. Only this afternoon I was driving with my daughter here in France. I commented on the fact that although we have Autumn colours and it looks pretty, we don’t have the spectacular fall colours of New England, we just don’t get the variety. Our landscape is orange and greens and yellows with the occasional red, but we don’t have the maples or the mass of vibrant red en masse.
It’s the maples, against the dark banks of pine trees, that adds the extra oomph here, I think. Thanks for coming along for the leaf-peeping!
You said it, girl. 🙂 I love, love, love the red barn. And, that is quite a photo you closed it out with – WOW. I really do appreciate the beauty of fall, but as a gardener I still hunger for the start of spring and the rebirth of all the plants. The circle of life and Mother Nature are never boring. 🙂
Isn’t that barn fun? I think I include a photo of it every fall–it’s at one of our favorite orchard stands and we go to get their variety of unusual apples. Pinovas, Shizukas, Autumn Crisps–yum!
Your autumn looks perfect! Ours is windy, rainy, and grey! Love the barn photo 🙂
Ours is currently windy, rainy, and gray, too–and most of those leaves seem to be falling in our driveway!
Absolutely beautiful, Kerry. Such colors! We’ve been having brilliant colors here as well. The days have been clear and the sky a brilliant blue. But it has been very breezy and those leaves have been coming down much too quickly. I’d like to view them on the trees a little while longer. I have my rake ready.
It’s been super rainy and windy here for the last two days and our driveway is PLASTERED with wet leaves–you can’t even see the macadam. It was nice while it lasted!
Good things come to those who wait! I drool over your photos and adore your autumnal show. Here in the land of evergreen there is little to see in Autumn, apart from the individual shows put on by the introduced exotics found in gardens and parks. We can go ‘Up Central’ (a two – three hour drive to the mountain plateau of the southern Southern Alps) to see the nicest native show, intermixed with exotics-gone-wild but it is still a poor second to what surrounds you. Enjoy!!
It’s as if Mother Nature distributed her charms fairly around the world! And there you are, enjoying spring . . .
[J] My favourite photo, by far, is the one you make least of – with the two trees and a ladder. This would be my kind of travel destination! thanks so much for sharing.
I love that photo, too–it just isn’t the sort that draws gasps from most people. It does perfectly capture the “look” of this region and much of what makes it distinctive. You need to come see for yourself!
Good Lord. When I saw your post title, I thought you were going to write about North Yorkshire. But no. What you have written about seems even more gorgeous than our lovely little bit of the world – at least in Autumn. Thank you!
Do you call North Yorkshire the North Country, too? You’ve given great evidence in many posts that your patch is simply gorgeous. Mine is, too, but this is the time of year it really struts its stuff!
North Yorkshire is, quite simply, ‘The North’. Let’s both celebrate our luck in living in the North Country!
Today was grey and cloudy here in Southern Ontario, but I specially love the way the autumn colours glow against dull background
We got your gray and cloudy weather one day later and I was thinking of your comment when I was driving around in the rain yesterday! You’re right–it is a different, but no less beautiful, look!
Well then…I should be really bitter. We have a gorgeous autumn in MN but it last for two seconds. If anyone wants seconds on winter, I can provide it! Very lovely images!
I think ours is over now, too, Cathe. We have had a couple very rainy, windy days and, boom, that’s it. They’re talking snow in the higher elevations and I am NOT ready!
I’m jealous. It’s slowly making the rounds here in DC Metro area. S-L-O-W-L-Y.
Gorgeous pictures!
Thanks, Lisa. Our glory is almost over, at least in the higher elevations. It’ll be making its way to you soon!
Oh my! Look at that! The ochre & the Crimson & that warm burst of colour! You are indeed very lucky Kerry:)
You should have some of the same color in Canada, right? I mean, it is the land of the maple leaf and all that!
ah sweet, glorious revenge.
Exactly. You know me so well. 😉
It looks perfect, just how autumn should be!
Yes, indeed! That’s why those busloads of people come here “leaf peeping” every autumn! They got their money’s worth this time around!
Something I would love to do some day – leaf peeking there!
Wonderful Kerry-thanks for posting these. Here in SD we have yellow to gold against the pine and spruce, so not much diversity. I love seeing the glorious reds and oranges you shared!
I should’ve mentioned the way the dark pine trees are perfect foils for the bright colors! The reds and oranges do take ones breath away–I’ve been looking at it for 60 years and I never get over it.
My dream is to one day see the eastern fall colors in person. 🙂
Beautiful! You are justly entitled to feel proud of your wonderful autumn colour.
We all have our moments when our locales makes us really feel happy and proud. I can’t feel too great about our political situation these days so it’s nice that Mother Nature gives us her charms!
How spectacular! No wonder you love autumn. I love the red of the maples and the red apple barn in your photos. In southern California we are still having hot summer weather but with shorter days. I envy your fall, but I’m happy with my mild winter.
Well, yes, there is that issue with winter–and ours will be cold and snowy and I’ll probably wish I could be in SoCal!
Stunning! Isn’t nature magnificent!
Yes, indeed! And the fleeting nature of the display makes it even more precious. The leaves are falling now and just making a big old mess of the yard!
What gorgeous photos Kerry – the autumnal colours are stunning! I love autumns – here in Perth it signals the end of the really hot weather and the chill in the air is so welcome. Having said that we’ve just had our coldest winter for several years and spring is only just making a belated appearance! The maples in your photos are especially beautiful 🙂
I love autumn and the break from hot weather, too–but, right this moment, the wind is howling and I am COLD and thinking maybe summer would be nice! And I have a long time to wait!
It’s never nice being cold Kerry! This was the first year that I was looking forward to the warmer weather as normally I enjoy the break from the summer heat but winter just went on a tad too long! We also had a cold southerly wind that just went on for weeks, which made it seem colder than it was. At the moment it’s pleasant but not hot. Hope the howling winds die down soon with you! 🙂
So beautiful! Thanks for these pictures. And what a surprise that the drought didn’t affect the color show after all!
No, the drought didn’t seem to be an issue–I even saw some folks claiming it heightened the color. But, then, no one really seems to understand, fully, this whole leaf-changing phenomenon.
Kerry, what glorious photos of your autumn reds and golds and that gorgeous blue sky. I love autumn colors and have had the privilege of visiting Connecticut and Boston during the fall months. It’s been too long though. I’m so happy you get to enjoy this as in unfolds. I’m a bit wistful when I see those vast open spaces as well. We’re pretty crowded here in San Jose. If you want space and property, you’ll spend $2 million dollars to get it here. Absurd, I know.
Enjoy every minute of it. And just so you know, I never get tired of seeing your pictures, winter, spring, summer or fall. 🙂
I’m glad you’ve had the opportunity to see the foliage with your own eyes–it’s much better in “real life.” We were in Boston a couple weeks ago and I love how much green space they have, and how much of that green was changing to bright colors right before our eyes. Actually, two of the photos in my post were from Boston, right in the city. And I love our open spaces, too. We lived in a city (Buffalo) for many years but, even there, we could be out in the country quite quickly. I’m not sure that’s the case in your part of the world?
Kerry, I love that about Boston, too. Good city planning. Even crowded New York City has Central Park.
We definitely have open spaces, but it’s not the same as the New England states. We have easy access to the beaches, the mountains, and lots of coast line, but not a lot of open space.
Wow! We have maples all around my home, but only two turn a brilliant red or orange. This year it seems late, but it has been a dry year, relatively. Enjoy the week ahead. Peace.
My cousins have sugar maples and make syrup every spring–and their trees are spectacular! Folks here are thinking that our dry year actually contributed to a better-than-usual foliage display.
interesting – the color is later this year, later than I recall…. but it sort of ebbs and flows 0 now hard and fast dates… have a great day!
Ah what lovely pictures of my favorite season! There’s something else you can treasure–northern apples are so much better than those grown in more southern climes. There’s a store here that sometimes carries Empire apples from New York state and we snap those up as soon as they come in. You just can’t beat crisp Cortlands and MacIntoshes frest off the tree on a brisk morning! And yes, your fall colors are so vibrant! Thanks for sharing.
Absolutely, the apples are one of the best things about fall in this region! I just bought Pinovas and Autumn Crisps at a local stand and am looking forward to Northern Spies!
Awesome pictures
Thanks! I hope you got bright foliage in your region, too.
Yeah I’ve seen some nice stuff around town and got some good pictures
Gorgeous photos! You have such a good eye for framing those shots.
Thanks, Jennifer! I do some heavy cropping when I get the photos on the computer! Did you get out to appreciate the foliage in VT?
Beautiful.
Autumn is my favorite time of year, and you have captured it quite well!
Thanks–it was a beautiful year in upstate New York.