Bring on the fall colors

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” Yes, I know those are the opening lyrics to a beloved Christmas song, but for me fall is the most wonderful time. I enjoy the bit of chill in the air. Sweatshirt weather is my favorite weather. The coziness of putting on a sweatshirt to avoid an early morning or early evening chill is almost better than getting a hug. Notice I said “almost,” because there is nothing I’ve missed more this year than the giving and receiving of hugs!

I always get a little bit giggly when I see the leaves turning color. Nothing brings a smile to my face faster than a sunny day with a forest ablaze with colors. Given how so many of our western states are dealing with forest fires, it’s probably not the best choice of words. But I need to embrace a bit of poetic license for this column.

With the Webb Street project now complete, I’m looking at a very different fall. In years past, this was one of the prettiest streets in the fall because it was lined with so many great trees. The colors were always amazing and usually worth the time and effort it took to rake up the leaves after their moment of glory.

I was never much good at enjoying the outdoors, except when it came time to rake leaves in the fall. When I first moved back home, a neighbor and I would take our time gathering the leaves to be burned while enjoying our cup of coffee. (“Cup of coffee” was code for a little wine that would make this job more enjoyable.) After she moved, raking leaves on my own just wasn’t as much fun.

I’ve been home 16 falls now, and my yard has changed a lot during that time. A windstorm cracked a rather large branch off a tree in the middle of my yard. Because it landed on my deck and roof, it wasn’t a tough decision to have the rest of the dying tree removed. Another storm brought the branch of a very large tree next to my house down and through a very small basement window. Removing that tree ensured the safety of my house as well as eliminated the need to have Roto-Rooter clear the roots out of my sewer line every other spring.

As I’m aging, it is a little bit less fun to rake leaves — now that it’s not so much fun to jump in the piles of leaves — but I still mourned the loss of the two trees at the front of my property that had to come down in order to put in the new street. Those trees were part of my life since we moved here in 1966. I loved how they looked in front of our house and one of them I could actually climb, so it was especially hard to watch that one come down.

Now that the street is finished and the curbs and sidewalks make our street travel-able again, I have all my hope for beauty tied up to the survival of the one lone tree they planted. Each property got one tree, and some are doing better than others, but they are guaranteed to grow or will be replaced. So far, mine is doing well; it at least has leaves. Some of the new trees down the street are not doing as well, but there is still hope. I’m not sure what this fall will bring, but next fall I should be able to enjoy a bouquet of bright red leaves.

Miriam Nelson is the news editor of the Wittenberg Enterprise and Birnamwood News. Readers can contact her at mnelson@newmedia-wi.com.

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