Goodbye to a Great Autumnal Season 2013. We Were Fortunate to See Nature in Its All Splendor in the Northeast this Year.

All seasons are so beautiful, even if the weather goes into extreme mode at times. The northeast is a nice place to live, because of the distinct seasons. The big cities have their advantages of culture, entertainment, people, experiences. NYC and it's suburbs offer a great combination of city life and a quick access to the great outdoors. 

I've gone almost everywhere within a radius of 200 miles of NYC. OK, I'm sure I haven't seen it all, and that's great! There's seems to be an inexhaustible number  of nooks and crannies still to be explored; plus the changing nature of the ones already experienced. 

The Hudson river north of Bear Mt bridge.

Covered bridge in CT

Clean air, public parks, safety, leisure, individual choice & responsibility are all hallmarks of a good society.

Most likely my last ride for the season, 1 week ago. It's gotten too cold for me now.

Castle by Garison, NY

This was a good Fall season for us in the northeast. The weather was very good, lots of moderate temperatures and crisp nights. The leaf colors and their duration scored high, maybe an 8 out of 10. Not every year we're so fortunate to have a great leaf peeping experience. The last 2 years, at the end of October we had very bad storms. Last year, Sandy caused so much damage. I lost power for 5 days. 

Maybe in the next few days I'll upload some pictures from the NYC Village Halloween parade, which came back strong after it was cancelled last year. 

Spectacular autumnal colors in Rockland Co., NY

Have a great winter!

Ah, at Least Nature is Putting a Great Display of Colors in the Northeast this Year!

While the political world in our nation's capital is very dysfunctional these days, we're having a wonderful season here in the northeast. The weather has been great, with warm days and cool nights, but the most important aspect is the beautiful autumnal colors. It's shaping to be a great Fall this year.

I've been taking day trips in the surrounding areas, but I'm hoping this coming weekend I can drive up to the Berkshires in Massachusetts if the weather holds.  These pictures are from last weekend as I rode my motorcycle in Harriman Park, NY. The Seven Lakes Drive goes through some of the most gorgeous landscapes.

The Foliage Network has frequent reports on the leaf/color situation. As of Oct. 11th, we're in "high color" which is a tad below "peak color".  Depending on the weather, dramatic changes can take place within a couple days. So get out and enjoy, especially if you live in an area that offer such a spectacular natural display. The northeast US is great for this. We're so lucky, for the most part, because there have been several years that the display isn't as magnificent due to weather conditions. Sometimes the leaves fall before they go through much of color change, or that the colors aren't as bright and diverse.