Monday, September 26, 2011

Here & There Column 9-27-11



Enjoy The Fall Foliage


We are into our early fall season and with the change in temperatures foliage and the colors of autumn create beautiful scenes for our enjoyment.
Conversation with various state tourist stops clearly points out that foliage in New York State ....with its leaves of every possible shade of red, yellow, gold and orange is legendary as the spectacular colors of a New York State autumn mean more than just pretty scenery to those in the State's travel and tourism industry.
The fall foliage season means big business for New York and has become one of the state's most popular travel seasons.
This so-called "shoulder season" has become a favorite time for weekend getaways and week-long vacations as well as the traditional drive to the country to view nature's colorful display.
Folks in the tourist industry pointed out to us the reason people all over the world head to the spectacular New York State foliage display is that unlike the rest of the country the northeast is particularly blessed with a great variety of broad-leaved trees which help give the region's foliage a spectacular color range.
Our state has almost as many acres of such trees as the rest of the Northeast combined.
We love the fall foliage and for many years traveled to the Lake George-Lake Placid area in September to participate in a fall square dancing weekend and view what mother nature does to our trees as the temperature drops.
While speaking to a former Biology teacher about the fall change he pointed out that seasonal conditions and the resultant chemical changes in the leaves are the key factors in the timing and coloration of the leaves and that generally clear sunny days and cool nights with temperatures in the 40's bring about the most striking autumn colors.
Get out and enjoy the best foliage that takes place the last two weeks of September, first two weeks of October and in some parts of the state the last two weeks of October and the first week in November.
The frost and white stuff comes next.

No comments: