Oaks

Halloween is almost here, which means November is close at hand. Yet, yesterday the temperature reached 70 F and today it is nearly as warm. October has been an extraordinary month -- the temperature, the weather, the fall foliage. One of the most beautiful in recent memory, although it really should not be this warm.

Many of the hardwoods have dropped their leaves. The deep orange of the sugar maples has begun to fade and their bare limbs are showing. A sure sign that November is near.

 The maple trees are bare

 It is now time for the oaks and they are just as stunning as the maples this year -- shiny and bold in their yellow-orange, red, and bronze colors.
 

 

The colors of oaks

Up close, individual oak leaves look a little weary and tattered. From afar though, they paint a beautiful backdrop to woodland edges and shorelines. Oaks (along with beeches) hold their leaves well into winter, so we have this color show for awhile.

The north woods has its allure, with the deep woods smell of balsam fir and enchanted forests of woodland wildflowers, mosses, and lichens. For fall beauty though, one can't find a better location than central New England. From western Massachusetts to southeastern New Hampshire this is the time to visit. The last two weeks of October (at least this year) offered a spectacular range of color among all the hardwoods.