Or: “Fall”

I’ve said before that we’re lucky to live where we do, and the Autumn, or Fall, is a great time to be here. Certainly, it’s not Maine, or even Algonquin, but when the trees start to change colour it gives the whole area a new look. The picture is Rondeau Provincial Park, this year, mid-October.

We took a run out yesterday and noted that the leaves are really falling now, so the trees are starting to get bare. The rush to rake leaves from the lawn has just begun, not for us of course as we’re big on leaving them where they fall, but for many in the suburban parts of town it’s an annual ritual. To be fair, things have changed during my nearly fifteen years in Canada, due in no small part to the City limiting the number of leaf bags it will remove in its weekly curbside collection of garbage. There is a “leaf yard” where you can take them yourself, but there has been a growing movement to maybe just mulch up the leaves with a mower, or rake them to a another part of the garden and let them rot down. The lines of paper sacks full of leaves, left next to the garbage can, have largely gone and which is a good thing in my view. I’ve always thought leaf raking to be a pointless exercise anyway, so the trend to leave them where they are, to aid the natural over-wintering for many beneficial critters, suits me just fine.

Out in the country, trees drop their leaves and there’s no one to rake them, like in Rondeau Park, but to see the vivid yellows and reds now forming a colourful carpet is all part of the scenery. Also in the country, the crops are being harvested. Tomatoes, peppers and Soy Beans are all in now and the fields have been ploughed. Much of the corn is in as well, although there is still plenty still in the fields, and some won’t be taken off for a few weeks yet, that’ll be weather dependent of course. I love to watch the land change throughout the year, and Autumn is a busy time for the farmers. Again, it all adds to the scenery.

A word about the word, Autumn that is. In the UK, nearly everyone will use the word Autumn for this time of year, and it’s origin is obvious given the French word Automne. Fall is the usual term used in North America, and it’s very descriptive. If you say “Fall” I think you miss out on the word “Autumnal”, but then that’s just me, they both great words.

I’m also looking forward to winter!