AUTUMNAPHILE

The frost isn’t just clinging to the punkin vine here in southern Maine, it’s annihilating asters and impatiens and sending locals deep into their cedar closets to shake off the mothballs and resurrect plaid flannel scarves and goosedown jackets.

I am an AUTUMNAPHILE. The view from my desk window displays stark leafless maple trees, drooping dun-colored hydrangea blossoms and fat pumpkins on the front stoop. The technicolor greens of mid-summer have been overruled by vibrant oranges, yellows, reds, even purples. Every year some naysayer shrugs, “Oh, the colors aren’t as good as they were last fall.” BALONEY! They are always magnificent.

Last week I took my visiting Jersey boys on a hike through woods behind our house. As we walked further into the forest, even “cool” 13-year-old Miles admitted (in a deeper voice than he had six months ago), “Vivi, look at how the light in here suddenly became yellowish. What happened?” We turned and saw a wall of evergreens behind us, then looked skyward and noticed sunbeams filtering through the falling orange foliage. “That’s autumn,” I told the boys. 

No more barefoot beach walks or afternoon tee times. No more lunches with rum punches at the Arundel Wharf until next May. No more Moose Tracks ice cream cones at Big Daddy’s. Their sign reads “Closed for the Season. Winter well.”

I comb the web and cookbooks for crock pot dinners and vegetable soup recipes. I bless our decision to put a gas-burning fireplace in our new home, and blissfully push the button on the magical remote every morning to instantaneously ignite the flames. I step out of the shower and envelop myself in a huge heated towel, courtesy of my Amba Radiant Curved Towel Warmer.

And Mr. Wonderful?  Right now he’s listening to the swish of palm fronds against plantation shutters in south Florida when he’s not working up a sweat with his driver on the practice range. His golf simulator here is hibernating, his “rug range” in the loft wasn’t cutting it, so he cut out and Jet-Blued south for two weeks

We are both happy!

I just finished knitting a red and green striped Christmas sweater for Mr. Fluffhead, the fabulous feline owned by the Jersey boys, and am about to start on their year-old-puppy Jojo’s Xmas scarf. I’m finally getting to read articles in the July 27 NEW YORKER. (Four months of issues to fully catch up.) The book pile on my bedside table is shrinking. My pantry and junk drawer look like Marie Condo paid a blitz visit. And I’m enjoying mugs of cider warmed in the microwave every afternoon.

That’s what you do when you’re a happy AUTUMNAPHILE here in Maine.

(All these fabulous photos were taken by Bob Dennis, one of the best photographers in Maine.)

FUN FALL FACTS

—-Americans refer to this time of year as “fall” while the British use the word “autumn.” Both terms date to the 16th century but before that it was called “harvest.”

—-Fall was called “harvest” because of the “harvest moon” that occurs when the full moon is closest to the autumn equinox. Before man-made lighting, this moonlight was essential to a prosperous harvest.

—-Weight gain around this time of year may not only be due to comforting fall foods, like pumpkin pie and cider. Researchers found that lack of vitamin D reduces fat breakdown and triggers fat storage.

—-Men and women experience high levels of testosterone during the fall. More babies are conceived during the fall and winter. The cause is unknown but it could be due to lack of sunlight or even go back to ancient mating rituals. (Or maybe, Baby, it’s just cold outside.)

—-There are more than 7500 varieties of apples. Activate the corer!