Autumn Colors And Fall Chores

Am I wrong, or are the leaves turning color and falling to the ground sooner that in past years? I live here in the city, and most of the leaves on my trees are still green, although the leaves on one of the trees in my backyard is currently a bright orange.

If I remember from past years, the trees in my backyard don't begin to turn color until the second week of October, but when they do, it's fast and just like that, they are on the ground ready for me to rake up. That is not one of my favorite things to do.

At my campground in the Endless Mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania, the leaves on the trees started turning color the third week of September. A couple of the trees on my campsite are already bare. Most of the campground and surrounding countryside is pretty much at peak, and the colors are so amazing. And even better, it's not my responsibility to rake up the leaves on my campsite. Sweet!

With the autumn season here, I've been attending to the usual fall chores at home like storing away my lawnmower (yes I added a gasoline additive to the gas tank), hauling out the snow blower and snow shovels from the shed, covering up the air conditioning unit, switching up the screens on the doors with storm windows, covering the pond with netting to catch the leaves when they begin to fall, and reluctantly switching the thermostat from ac to heat, among other things.

And in a couple of weeks, I'll be storing away all the crap I've accumulated at camp, including all those lawn ornaments Gotta have them at camp. It's a rule, I think. When all that is done, the final thing to do will be the winterization of my camper. Not looking forward to it. Can we rewind back to summer?

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