New England - Fall Foliage in New Hampshire

October was my favorite time in New England, the smell of wood burning, apple picking, the Deerfield fair and the crispness of the chill the autumn air gave; but a tease before the oncoming blast of winter that I always dreaded.

Autumn's shorter days, and crisp chill cause leaves to change color to a vibrant coloration's and then drop (fall) which provides the perfect backdrop for a color show in New England.

 A little geography here for my Aussie friends… New England is the term used to describe the six northeastern states in the US; Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. They are bordered by Canada to the north, the Atlantic Ocean on the east and New York and New York City to the south and west; these six states make up a region that is rich in history and recreation... but the autumn in my opinion is the most breathtaking of the region.

Foliage season begins in mid-to-late September and ends in mid-to-late October. Peak color often coincides with Columbus Day weekend. Some years, the days would pass with little change, and then overnight all the trees seemed to explode with colors so beautiful you could easily wonder if the leaves were real. Other years, the color built steadily to a crescendo, changing each day. Weather plays an important part in the process, but with so many variables, no one can truly predict how brilliant the foliage will be in any given year, so with each fall never being the same as the last, I was always surrounded by a seemingly endless and changing canvas of brilliant autumn colors.

I was enchanted with the peak season of "Fall", when "the trees burst into colors, they seemed to wear magical coats of crimson, gold, and scarlet; dry leaves crunch underfoot; and every farm stand showed off their baskets of apples, piles of fat orange pumpkins, flat hay bails and hardy flowers. Sometime I was lucky enough to come across an apple-cider press. Have you ever had cold freshly squeezed cider, how about hot-spiced apple cider? Mmmm really it goes hand in hand with autumn, like apple picking, pies, county Fairs, farmers markets, bonfires, hayrides and Halloween. My door step was decorated for the season with pumpkins, chrysanthemums along with dried corn stalks or fake scarecrows, but that’s another story.

NH can easily be broken down into regions; you've got the White Mountains, the Great North Woods, Lake Sunapee, Dartmouth, the Lakes Region, Monadnock and the Merrimac Valley, and the New Hampshire Seacoast where I lived. I could go in any direction but I enjoyed traveling an hour or so up north to be one of the “leaf Peepers” of the scenic Kancamagus Highway, the road steadily climbs into the White Mountains as the flaming colors unfold along the peaks, ridges and valleys like a colorful granny square afghan, then it slowly winds back down the other side through some more postcard scenery. The heavily wooded river banks, lakes and water ways like Lake Winnipesaukee becomes a mirror with reflections, mimicking the autumn palette around its shores.

Whilst the flaming colors unfold along the peaks, ridges and valleys like a colorful granny square afghan then it slowly winds back down through some more postcard scenery. The heavily wooded river banks, lakes and water-ways like Lake Winnipesaukee become a mirror with reflections, the autumn palette around its shores.

To see the bucolic rural scenery more usually associated with New England all I had to do was stand in my own yard to command a panoramic view of the surrounding trees. Or trek along the picturesque back roads with white picket fences to Canterbury Shaker Village near Concord, where the trees were packed tightly to give an equally awe-inspiring experience as of any "Currier and Ives" painting.

Now I have the autumn memories, like the seasons "we" also change!

*♥*Yasmin*♥*

I was recently asked if I have returned to the States. No! I now live in Australia. This piece of writing came because I was remembering the fall's beauty of New Hampshire. I penned it down for me... so that I would never Forget it's majestic beauty.

That season of my life has gone, I now have other seasons to enjoy here in AU and to write memories, like the splendid autumns of my yesteryear's.~ Yasmin