The Beauty of Autumn

It might surprise you to know that autumn is actually my favorite season. I just love the changing foliage, the soft rustling and subsequent dispersing of leaves, and the cool (not crisp) evenings.

This time of year might be construed by some as merely the calm before the onslaught of winter, but in my view, the world seems genuinely at peace - no bustle of spring or bright lights of summer. Nice in their own right, I still prefer those two glorious weeks of autumn when the breeze is light and the midday sun scatters over the reflection of the fallen, but still glowing leaves.

Coincidentally, I came across a quote that expresses the beauty of the season better than I ever could (from the Globe & Mail's "Social Studies" section, compiled by Michael Kesterton):

"The summer is over now. It is October and autumn. We are having delightful fall days, misty and purple, with a pungent, mellow air and magnificent sunsets, followed by the rarest of golden twilights and moonlit nights floating in silver. Maple and birch are crimson and gold, and the fields sun themselves in aftermaths. But it is autumn and beautiful as everything is, it is the beauty of decay - the sorrowful beauty of the end."

- Lucy Maud Montgomery, in her journal, 1899

A view of the river valley from Ezio Farone Park