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Date: 9/5/2023
A few weeks ago, I took a trip to Maine to visit a friend.
We woke up one morning and decided to take a walk to a little café in her sweet town, get some breakfast and coffee, and shop around.
Despite it — at the time — being the end of July, the air was crisp, and there were a few fallen leaves on the ground.
I breathed in the clean, calm salt air, listened to the light crunch of a few leaves under my feet, tightened the tie of my sweater that rested on my shoulders and closed my eyes beneath my sunglasses as we moved to sit on a park bench.
“It feels like fall,” she remarked.
“I know — like September,” I said.
I always feel a burst of energy when spring becomes summer, temperatures warm and the sun beams through green leaved trees.
But the sense of renewal that I feel when fall comes cannot compare.
I have a favorite tree in Hampden near Laughing Brook Wildlife Sanctuary that I pass on my commute to one of our offices. I did not realize I had a “favorite tree,” until this year, when I passed it a few weeks ago and thought to myself, “here it comes…” as it is the first tree I see each year relinquishing its deep green hues for burnt oranges and bright yellows.
In fact, I always look forward to this drive in autumn. Traveling along North Monson Road, Glendale Road and onto Main Street in Hampden is a tiny slice of heaven — admiring the richly colored trees, passing Ferrindino Maple’s beautifully manicured grounds. Until the past few years, a home on North Monson Road would always line their lengthy stone walls that run next to the road with pumpkins. The house recently sold, and the new owners likely do not know what a tradition this was for passersby, but I always appreciated the sight of the orange gourds.
It is easy to get sentimental for a season that has so many wonderful memories tied to it. Fall ushers in the holiday season — and if readers have not figured out my love for the holidays by now, well, I don’t know what to say.
Autumn also brings back baking season. Of course, I can — and do — bake in the summer, but something about heating up the oven on the sweltering days we experience is just not appealing.
This summer went by all too fast...it almost feels as though we did not have one, given the countless rainy, dreary days.
I look forward to fall, though — trekking out to all my favorite attractions. Echo Hill Orchards with friends for festive drinks and cider donuts, the Big E for fair food and fun, Rodger Williams’ Jack-O-Lantern festival to view thousands of carved pumpkins. Even an experience as simple as painting pumpkins with friends feels like such a grounding, heartwarming encounter.
That serene day in Maine reminded me of life’s simple pleasures: a delicious specialty coffee, laughs with friends and perusing unique storefronts: a precursor to a classic New England autumn.