We have just had the most absurdly corny New England autumn weekend. The weather is exactly the way you would imagine it if you'd never actually experienced autumn in New England but had only heard or read about it: Bright sun, wispy clouds, crisp air, nippy wind, and of course colorful leaves falling everywhere. This is why autumn is my favorite season, and one reason I could never leave New England.
Yesterday morning Pete and Julie both had soccer games, so all the parents were standing around with their hands jammed into their pockets, stamping their feet to keep the circulation going.
Afterward we headed over to the school Fall Festival (it replaced the Spring Fair some years ago), which made me feel like I was living on the October page of a Norman Rockwell calendar. There were all kinds of harvesty games, like finding the (plastic) colored needles in real haystacks and pseudo-bowling with squash gourds instead of pins, plus Halloweeny activities like putt-putt with golfballs painted to look like eyeballs and booths where kids could get fake casts on their arms, removable tattoos, and their hair spray-painted a rainbow of colors. It was an almost embarrassing display of Good Clean Fun, with kids running around every which way and parents staffing the booths and chatting.
Today we went out to the Minuteman Bikeway, a beautiful bike trail that runs 11 miles from Bedford, through Lexington and Arlington, and into Cambridge. Getting there was a pain: We had to put the 5 bikes in the minivan and take Andy's car too. If this becomes a regular family activity, we will need to invest in a bike rack. Anyhow, the trail is lovely and peaceful, littered with red, orange, and yellow leaves. We went only about 2 miles or so before turning around and heading back; the whole trip was the longest the kids had ever ridden, and Julie in particular was pretty tired trying to keep up with the rest of us.
Then we came home and had the first hot cocoa of the year.
What an awesome, perfect weekend! I briefly lived in Maine years ago and experienced Autumn there. New England autumns are like none other on earth. Stunning!
Posted by: Tonya | October 19, 2008 at 04:32 PM
I, too, love Autumn and was feeling it full force this weekend. I worked on a scarf I am knitting for a friend and baked three apple pies.
When did I become somebody's grandmother?
Posted by: steve | October 20, 2008 at 10:39 AM
Spectacular weekend... I'll take this all year 'round.
Posted by: TwoBusy | October 20, 2008 at 11:59 AM