For the last few weeks, I've noticed the trees in my yard have been dropping leaves already. Not many of them have changed colors dramatically, but some of them have and are starting to fall. That to me is one of the worst chores as a homeowner, raking the yard.

But we live in an area with a lot of mountains full of trees. They become very picturesque when the leaves turn colors. I think that's one thing we take for granted here in Upstate New York and Northeastern Pennsylvania. People from down south will always comment on how beautiful the leaves are on the trees when they start to change as they drive through our area in the fall. This week, I read an A. P. article that stated that this year's Fall Foliage should be bright according to a Cornell professor named Karl Nikklas. Nikklas is a plant biology professor at Cornell. He said with the rainfall we have received this year, and the temperatures fluctuating so much in late August and early September, that we should see average to above-average color changes this Autumn.

That truly is something else to look forward to this fall in our area. The raking, not so much.

[Photo used with permission from Free Falling Photography]

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