Autumn (fall)

Autumn, or fall, is an interesting season. As with Spring, the weather is changing, but in fall it is getting cooler, not warmer. The days are getting shorter, not longer, and in fact they are now shorter than the nights. Much of the world is now going to sleep for the winter, and things in general slow down. Everyone is getting ready for winter.

One of the nicest things about Autumn is the fall leaves. There are only a few areas of the world where the climate and the soil are such that leaves in general turn bright colors, especially yellow, orange and red. One is the Tohoku region of Japan, where acid soils and temperate climate combine to produce these fall colors. Another is the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada, where similar climates and soil also produce similar effects with the leaves. Pennsylvania attracts many tourists with the largest such forests in easy reach of people from other parts of the country, but New England, with especially poor soils and rugged countryside, is even more famous for its leaves. Canada is so proud of its fall leaves that they have made the red maple leaf a national symbol and even put it on their flag.



Autumn is also the season of the harvest. Food is abundant and harvest festivals and thanksgiving holidays are common. Americans celebrate their Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday in November, while the Japanese holiday of Labor Thanksgiving Day is also in late November. Fresh fruit is abundant, and there is plenty of other food available, too. While most people prefer Spring or Summer, there are many good points to Fall as well, and many people enjoy this season like any other.

I miss the cider we used to get in Pennsylvania in the Fall, sold in gallon jugs. It would turn hard in a few days, and you had to drink it before it went bad. The flavor was really good.