Though summer is my favorite season to experience, autumn is my favorite to write about. It’s so full of vivid colors, pungent odors, crisp air, and delicious, tangy foods it’s like a cornucopia for the senses. Autumn offers itself as a bountiful gift to the writer who wants to incorporate all of the faculties.

Autumn, to me, seems to be broken into three phases that correspond with the three main months of the season. Labor Day weekend at the start of September marks the unofficial end of summer. Kids return to school. The days grow noticeably shorter. The weather here in New England is still warm, but for the most part, the oppressive heat and humidity are gone. The nights are quite cool – usually superb sleeping weather.

October brings a chill to the air. Leaves turn brilliant shades of red, yellow, orange, and purple setting the trees ablaze in color. The leaves “turn” earlier the farther north one goes. Here in central Massachusetts peak season is around mid-October. As the month progresses, strange sights appear. What was once almost solely a children’s holiday has grown ever more popular with adults. Elaborate Halloween displays rivaling those for Christmas in their size and intricacy haunt many a front lawn. As All Hallows Eve approaches, the veil between the material and spiritual worlds grows thin. Those sensitive to such things can tangibly feel it. By the end of October most of the leaves have fallen from the trees leaving the branches bare, eerie against the backdrop of a full moon.

November brings even colder temperatures. Depending upon which New England state one is in (or just the weather whims of New England, for that matter) it may also bring the first fall of snow. Local farmers have finished harvesting their crops. Warmer clothes make their way to the front of closets. Preparations for winter begin in earnest as do those for the great feast of Thanksgiving. Once that grand holiday has passed, thoughts turn almost immediately to getting ready for Christmas. The holiday season has begun!

Autumn encompasses three different and uniquely beautiful months each brimming over with sensory delights.


SIGHT:
• Color – like summer, there is lots of color, but it is different. Autumn is filled with reds, yellows, golds, browns, and purples. They are in the trees, the flowers, our clothes – everywhere. The perfect fall day includes a brilliant blue sky, white puffy clouds, and colorful leaves swirling in the wind.
• School buses return. Better get up a bit earlier for work in case you get stuck behind one.
• Pumpkins, apples, haystacks (which these days look more like giant shredded wheat than the conical shapes of my youth), corn stalks, mums, and sunflowers take over the landscape.
• Ghostly cemeteries, ghoulish monsters, and creepy critters suddenly appear where before there was simply a well-manicured lawn.
• Beloved faces, some that haven’t been seen in a while, surround a long table laden with a sumptuous feast.

HEARING:
• The swish and crunch when walking through ankle-deep leaves scattered along the roadside.
• The honk of geese in V-formation as they depart for the warmer southern regions. I always wave goodbye and wish them a safe trip.
• “Trick or Treat” repeated over and over on one special night.
• The sounds of baseball replaced by those of football.
• Prayers of thanksgiving from grateful hearts.

SMELL:
• Autumn in New England carries a particular scent on the air. Tangy and pungent, it is actually the smell of decaying vegetation. Sounds yucky – smells great!
• Apple orchards with country stores selling freshly baked pies and turnovers.
• When I was young, everyone burned their raked up leaves in a burn barrel. It’s no longer legal to burn leaves here. Oh, do I miss the woodsy smell of burning leaves. The memory of that mixed with the scent of my father’s pipe tobacco is enough to bring tears to my eyes.
• Mulling spices wafting up from a mug of hot apple cider.
• The smell of a Thanksgiving feast, especially the turkey roasting in the oven and a freshly baked pumpkin pie along with all the other dishes is as much a bounty for the olfactory as the food itself is for the taste buds and tummy.

TOUCH/FEEL:
• The dryness of dying leaves.
• The increasingly cooler air as temperatures drop until it’s downright chilly.
• Blisters from too many hours spent with a rake in hand.
• The nubby feel of a football.
• Dry soil, prickly leaves, smooth veggies as you pick and carry in the harvest.

TASTE:
• The tang of real apple cider and the fizz and kick of hard cider.
• The perfect taste combination of cheddar cheese and apples or cider.
• Winter squashes backed with cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar.
• Soups and stews – the heartier foods that take over from summer’s lighter fare.
• Pumpkin and apple pies topped with whipped cream or ice cream.

In historical settings, autumn, especially in the earlier part of the season, was probably one of the more comfortable times of the year, the weather being neither oppressively hot nor freezing cold. It was an extremely important time of year for agricultural societies. Harvesting and putting up food for the winter was imperative.

Thanksgiving was a very big deal in early New England just as it is today. Though most of us wouldn’t think of it now, Thanksgiving was a very popular wedding day in Federal period (i.e. Victorian) New England. Traveling any distance was a real undertaking so combining the two when families and friends would be gathering anyway made sense.

In any time setting, autumn overflows with ways to add sensory details to your writing. How appropriate that is for this bountiful time of year.

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