When I think of New England, I think of small towns, colonial houses, and seasons. Cold New England winters are to be enjoyed fireside with some hot cocoa and s'mores or outside getting a thrill and a cold nose from skiing. Spring is muddy at first, then blossoms into something spectacular, with flowering dogwood trees dotting the suburban yards. During the summer, New Englanders get outside to enjoy the few months of heat. At least one occasion must involve lobster. Many occasions must involve local ice cream. And then there is fall. All other seasons are shared across different parts of the country, but autumn is particular to New England. Where else in the world would people drive several hours out of their way just to peep at some leaves?
Fall in New England involves leaf peeping, pumpkins, apple cider, and apple picking. Fall in New England is far from foreign to me, as I grew up in Connecticut and went to college in Vermont. I am a New Englander, born and raised, so when I came to New Hampshire for school a few months ago I was introducing myself to a new state that already felt familiar. School has thrust itself upon us pretty hard, but we have still managed to capture small New England moments.
The leaf peeping crept up on me. I left campus for one weekend in September, and when I returned the leaves had already turned colors and started to fall away from the trees.
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| September 22, 2019 - Tuck Campus |
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| September 26, 2019 - Tuck Campus |
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| September 26, 2019 - Tuck Campus |
Knowing that the crisp, sunny weather was a limited time offer, we decided to take advantage of the most New England fall activity: apple picking. More than 10 of us piled into cars and drove to
Riverview Farm. More than just apple picking, the farm offers flower picking, berry picking, and--importantly--maple creemees. A "creemee" is local for "soft serve".
Two horses gave us a lift toward the orchard, and then we wove our way through unending rows of apple trees, each offering a different variety. The weather was a rare kind of Goldilocks comfortable, too perfect to be taken for granted, so we stayed outside as long as possible.
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| October 5, 2019 - Riverview Farm |
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| October 5, 2019 - Riverview Farm |
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| October 5, 2019 - Riverview Farm |
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Driving back from the orchard, we even stopped to admire Occom Pond, which had also started to experience a change in color palate around the edge.
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| October 5, 2019 - Occom Pond, Hanover |
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| October 8, 2019 - Dartmouth Green |
It's hard to accept that in a matter of weeks the temperature will plummet and frost will start crystallizing across the grass. That's the beauty of New England, though. It always keeps changing.
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