I don’t know about you, but I think of the autumn season as brisk nights, clear blue skies and gorgeous foliage colors. In many ways, it should be the best of all seasons to enjoy the outdoors. But in recent years, it seems we’re being cheated, as our autumns have lean toward cloudy skies and rainy days. Heavy rains combined with winds have wiped out the fall foliage just as it was beginning to inspire visual awe.

I’ve heard people remark that we seldom have traditional spring and fall seasons anymore, but rather winters that often jump right into summer-like weather, and then back into winter again with maybe a token week or so of autumn. It does seem that way when looking back at the last few years. Meteorologists would probably say it’s merely a normal cyclic phenomenon that our region goes through every so often, but that’s small consolation to those of us who truly enjoy autumn.