Monday, October 03, 2005

Leaf Peeping and Climate Change...


Has anyone noticed that the leaves aren't turning color so early anymore? The swamp maples used to start showing a bit of red late August / early September. Now it's early October and I can hardly find a leaf that's turned color anywhere. I looked for any "autumn" leaves Saturday during my bike ride and came up with the picture at the top of this entry. I really had to pay attention though - it's still a sea of green out there.

So...is it climate change? When I first moved to Maine, 30 years ago, I remember really cool, crisp autumns; I needed gloves and a jacket every morning. Now I'm still getting along nicely (warmly) with bare legs and flip flops. I'm not complaining though. I will gladly put off heating the house for as long as possible.

But really - wasn't Columbus Day weekend the big leaf-peeper travel weekend in years past?

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