Bravo to October's Trees!

Sugar Maple Leaves - The New York State Tree - photo by Jan Johnsen


"I can see clearly now, that the rain is gone

...its gonna be a bright sunshiney day"
~ Johnny Nash


There is no more glorious time than a sunshiney day in Autumn in the Northeast. The coloration of deciduous woodlands of the United States take my breath away on certain weeks in October. And you can see this natural  phenomenon in parts of California and the Northwest, in Japan, on the coast of East Asia and in parts of Europe).

Native Dogwood (Cornus florida) against a native Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) photo by Jan Johnsen

The native trees put on their cloaks of color and are ablaze in the sunshine... I walk along public trails near my house and exult in Nature's show. 

in Sleepy Hollow, NY  -  Maple Tree photo by Jan Johnsen

Sometimes I want to literally stop and applaud, crying 'BRAVO!' to a particular tree or scene. Wouldn't that be wonderful if we had crowds of people standing in front of a particular colorful sugar maple on a street applauding? I really want to do that sometimes...



In Japan, there is something like that in their Autumn tradition of viewing the changing color of maples. Called  "momijigari", which literally means 'hunting red leaves',  the Japanese people flock to places of natural beauty to see the short lived show of colorful leaves. Everyday the media announces a Momiji-gari forecast called the 'autumn tint front' and people follow this to see places of 'peak color'.



Japanese maple leaf in Fall by Jan Johnsen

The ephemeral nature of this magnificent show is at the heart of Autumn's eternal allure - miss it and you must wait a year to catch an eyeful of Nature's glory. So if you live anywhere near a woodland area in the Northeast please grab the moment...

 NOW GO OUTSIDE AND THANK THAT TREE....or at least clap.

Sugar Maple


for a great book on fall foliage:



Comments

  1. Cerberus German shepherdsOctober 25, 2013 at 2:04 PM

    I just got back from the Smoky mountains & was commenting on how beautiful the fall trees are!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jan JohnsenOctober 26, 2013 at 3:14 PM

    And they must be amazing in the Smoky mountains....another natural treasure.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownOctober 28, 2013 at 4:51 AM

    This posts is inspiring and informative...thanks for sharing..
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    ReplyDelete

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