Thursday, September 27, 2007 — Each season has its own special character and every year I look forward as each one takes its turn. Autumn is nature's big, beautiful display before winter. So many amazing things are going on every day right under our noses. It's good fun to get out and take a look at them.

The plants have spent the warm months flowering and bearing fruit. Now they'll prepare themselves for a long winter's sleep. The animals in Peabody Park and outside of town have spent those same months enjoying the nice weather and raising their young. Now, some will leave Millsberry for warmer parts of the globe. Others will hide away all the food they can collect. That will help them get through the shorter days and cold weather ahead.

With all this going on, autumn is a wonderful time to get outside and enjoy the show. Why not take a walk and watch the squirrels in the park? You'll notice that they're putting on a little weight. Even though squirrels don't hibernate like some animals ('hibernate' means to go to sleep for the winter months), they know there won't always be food around when they need it. So they eat what they can now. That will give them extra weight to help them through the winter. They also like to bury some food to dig up later. Take an afternoon, walk around the park, and watch them work.

Some birds, like ducks and geese, migrate in the autumn. That means they fly south to a warmer climate where they'll wait out the winter, then return in the spring. Take a walk around town and see if you can spot the birds flying overhead. Ducks and geese usually fly in formation, making a shape like the letter 'V.'

And how about those trees! On your walk around town, take a look at the colors that appear as their leaves change. It's quite a show. Actually, the colors we see are always there in the leaves. We just don't see them because they're usually covered by the green chlorophyll (KLOR-o-fill) which the leaves use to make food. In a process called photosynthesis (foto-SIN-thasis), the trees take minerals and moisture from the soil and use the energy in sunlight to turn them into sugar. The sugar is their food. In autumn, the leaves lose that chlorophyll and reveal their brilliant colors of red and gold. Why not collect some of the leaves as they fall? They make a beautiful bouquet (and the trees don't need them anymore).

Autumn has other special treats, too. This is the time of year when it's fun to pick apples. There are so many kinds to pick, each with its own particular flavor. And some orchards press their apples into cider (that's fresh apple juice). How the smell of a cider mill takes me right back to my childhood. And what a delicious way to spend the day. Apples are also a good way to get some of those 5 fruits and vegetables you should eat every day.

So get out and enjoy the wonders of the season. They won't last forever. Winter will be here before you know it with its own special wonders.