The Changing Colors of Fall October 19, 2011
Posted by nrhatch in Art & Photography, Blogging, Humor, Nature.trackback
Aah . . . the changing colors and crisp cool days of fall. The cold has not yet grown old and plunging temps have not taken their toll.
After picking apples, carving pumpkins, and crunching through fallen leaves, fall-loving friends stockpile firewood to chase away the chill wintry air.
Fall often seems too short a season ~ a quick dash between the scorch of summer and the arctic blast of winter. As hot summer days turn cold and blustery, we swap swimsuits for snowsuits and beach towels for cozy afghans.
Spirits droop as falling leaves and temps race to . . . fall farthest fastest.
Those who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) experience a resurgence of symptoms:
Seasonal affective disorder (also called SAD) is a type of depression that occurs at the same time every year. If you’re like most people with seasonal affective disorder, your symptoms start in the fall and may continue into the winter months, sapping your energy and making you feel moody. Less often, seasonal affective disorder causes depression in the spring or early summer. (Mayo Clinic Staff)
Shorter days may mean short fuses ~ waning sunlight leads to short-tempers, especially for those with anger management issues . . . like Helda the Witch!
How far do you fall each fall?
Related posts: Hiking Humpback Rock (Water Witch) * The Colors and Sounds of Autumn (Christine Grote) * The Other Side of Autumn (Woman Wielding Words) * Ready When You Are, C.B. (Reflections From A Cloudy Mirror) * A Walk in the Park (Next Stop)
Love it.
Thanks, Jackie. My favorite thing about fall . . . witches! 😀
Yes, Fall passes by way too quickly. Love these pics!
Your photos of the Blue Ridge Parkway at the peak of autumn splendor capture the best of the season. Except for witches.
Witches rock almost as much as Humpback Rock.
I love the colours of fall!
Blogging with friends in South Africa increases my awareness of “How The World Turns” ~ we’re getting ready to hibernate for a few months while you have Spring and Summer peaking around the corner. 😀
Ah, fall. The temperature has dropped about 30 degrees since Sunday. It’s about time!
Soon you can trade in your Mint Julep for a Hot Toddy. Or a Hot Buttered Rum. Yum.
I love your pictures! Fall really is a fantastic season and unfortunately it does go by far too quickly! Thanks for sharing; I’m glad I stumbled upon your blog!
Thanks, Dounia. Enjoyed your “Walk in the Park.”
Thanks for your comment and for stopping by my blog. 🙂
Hahah this is such a great post, lovely photos
Enjoyed a quick look at the Dating Game on your blog. It made me glad those days are a dim and distant memory. 😆
“The cold has not yet grown old…” Love this, and of course, those gorgeous colours of autumn.
Thanks, Ruth. Autumn shouts with colored splendor! 😀
Thanks for the pingback and for posting other similar entries – it’s a great way to read beautiful posts and to stumble across really great blogs that I would miss otherwise!
You’re welcome. I include related posts in many of my posts ~ yours seemed a good fit with the theme of this one. 😀
Fall seems to me to be an indecisive season. One day it thinks it is summer and another day winter with frost and freezing temps. It does seem to go by way to fast though.
I am much happier in Florida ~ the colors are NOT as stunning but the temps are less biting. 😛
Positive take on one of my less favourite parts of the year…the colours are so stunning….
Summer’s end always made me SAD. The spectacular foliage is a bittersweet exclamation mark.
Wow, didn’t know about S.A.D. Great reading, thanks!
Ironic that you didn’t know about it since the best treatment for S.A.D. is . . . SUNSHINE! 😎
I actually love October. Next to May – it’s my favorite month. But October is so bittersweet. It goes by too fast, and I cherish the last days of light in the evening, the sun warm enough to be outside without a jacket and leaves still on the trees in blazing color.
Boulder turns brown in the winter (until it snows).
A sunny fall day is great. But when the clouds roll in, or dark descends, I long for longer warmer days.
Just a look at those beautiful autumn colours can lift the spirits, Nancy
If we like autumn, the colors make us smile. If we don’t, we probably long for shades of spring and summer. 😀
Fortunately for us we are in Spring and going into summer. So I don’t need anger management.
Trees are covered in new leaves, flowers in bloom and there is a riot of colour in everyone’s garden. Now just need some warmer weather to make my life complete. 🙂
I’m waiting for you to share delicious Spring photos with us. 😀
Beautiful photos!
Thanks, Tok! We have lots of Fall Festivals even if the temps haven’t dropped much.
I really am not convinced you actually have fall down there.
That’s because you are a very discerning reader.
We are in shorts and flip flops until late December. Then we wear sweaters and light jackets for most of January and February, before unpacking the swimsuits in March.
But we truck in pumpkins and scarecrows to give everything a bit of Autumnal cheer. 😉
Thanks for the “Ping!”
BTW, my vote-count is now at 11, I’m in second place, but I am still 23 votes behind first place (34), and so to take over, I need 24!
I think I’ll have to kiss that GC goodbye – but I’m not giving up yet!
😆
Have you asked your FB friends to vote for you? If even 10% of them voted, you’d sail into the lead! 😀
It’s nice to come home, check the WP posts, and be treated to the colorful fall photos and the Helda cartoon. LOL. 🙂
Thanks, Marie!
Even though we don’t have much of a Fall in Florida, colorful autumn photos bring back happy memories of watching the leaves turn in New England and other places we’ve lived..
Never thought of the shorter days as a reason people might have shorter tempers…thanks for pointing that out, Nancy! I was in New Hampshire last week visiting my daughter and her family…what a perfect time to be in New England.
We often camped in Vermont in October to enjoy its fall finery. Sometimes we got more than we bargained for . . . snow! 😀
Sunlight helps us stay positive. Cooler temps and shorter days can limit our access to sunlight, negatively impacting our mood.
I know that if I don’t get enough sunlight, I’m with Helda ~ tired, cranky, irritable . . . and ready to fly off the handle at the least provocation. 😉
Beautiful post with such great photos and the witch flying off the handle is so applicable. Thank you so much for this, brightened my day. 🙂
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed. Maintaining a sense of humor is a great way to deal with any season! 😀
The heat lights short fuses, too. The news once reported that road rage incidents were higher in the summer months.
Right about now is when it’s supposed to be cooling down. It’s still in the nineties, but by Halloween we should have cool nights. No fall-colored leaves, but I guess we can’t have it all.
I love the winter months…no short fuses or slow burns for me 🙂
You’re right. Hot summer nights are the busiest for bar room brawls. Full moons cause short fuses too. Basically, we’re all just ticking time bombs waiting to explode.
{{kaboom}}
I’m too lethargic to pick fights most of the year ~ but once in a while I get my “ROCKY” on! Then, watch out, bugaloo! 😉
I notice a big change in my energy as the days get shorter…I really miss seeing light out the windows in the evenings…but I’ve also noticed that by the end of December or January, I often start using those dark evenings and creating more books/booklets etc…so some good does seem to comes out of those long evenings. Maybe I’ll start a list for infinite possibilities… : )
That’s a great idea, Kathy. When our energy level is HIGH, we can create a list of INFINITE POSSIBILITIES to pursue when we need to inspire ourselves to do something more “creative.”
I love fall…made a huge pot of cauliflower-leek soup today that turned out just dandy. Yum. Do you have lots of coloured leaves in your ‘hood?
Not yet. But it is 65 degrees this morning. Really feels like Fall. Tigger is out hunting for lizards, but they are hiding or hibernating. 😀
Your soup sounds terrific! This is my favorite time of year to make soups. This week was Vegetable Barley Rice soup with carrots, celery, onion, turnips, turnip greens, red pepper, barley, and brown rice. YUMMO!
I love Fall and it loves me back. 🙂
You seem like a person who truly CELEBRATES the turning of the wheel. I do too . . . but I want it to have only 3 legs ~ Spring, Summer, Fall, Spring, Summer, Fall. 😀
Americans really know how to celebrate autumn.
Maybe it’s because we dread the coming of winter?
I expect it’s because Harvest Festivals are celebrated in so many parts of the world and this is a melting pot for so many of their cultural traditions. Plus . . . we’re copy cats. If we see a celebration we like, we borrow the best parts. 😉
I suffer from SAD and its awful. Could be much worse if I lived way up north. After two days of gray skies and rain I am so happy to see the sun!!!!!! Now if I just had larger windows.
I definitely experienced S.A.D. when living in the northeast. Too many cold gray days and not nearly enough sun to keep a smile on my face.
Now that we live in the Sunshine State . . . I’m much sunnier! 😎
Fall is definitely here, in all its glory and……………..all its rain!
That’s the part that used to get to me . . . not the cooler temps, or the shorter days, but the cold gray wet rain that chilled me to the bone. Hope the sun returns soon, Joss.
This morning it was a crisp 44 degrees in Southeast Texas..brrrr!
That’s pretty crisp! 😉
Thanks for the link. I’m way behind on your posts (as you can see, I imagine). Sorry about the barrage of comments tonight.
No worries, mate! You’ve been a busy girl . . . launching a new book! 😀