There’s something special about this early autumnal time of year in Southern Maine.
September hits and there’s a change in the air causing the eyes of born and bred New Englanders to start to scan the trees, knowing what we’ll see. The first pockets of color, revealing themselves in uneven patches on the branches and leaves of impatient trees.
Our attention is caught in quick flashes of color as we drive along winding back-roads.
Not a cardinal taking flight, but a splash of bright red leaves on an otherwise green tree. Not a glint of sunlight, but yellow splendor in the foliage. Wind rustles and jostles the colors, the landscape comes to life with death, fiery last words, fading to earth tones, eventually to dust, eventually to the clean barren snowscapes of a coastal Maine winter.
Still, it’s these first hints of autumn which stir the soul, inviting imagination and nostalgia to enter our waking moments.
The trappings of this fleeting season invite us join them while they’re still with us, entice us to break our routines, to take a walk, to stop the car, to linger quietly awhile longer, to plan a getaway.
They flag us down, like hitchhikers on the side of the road – not asking for rides, but taking us on journeys into their worlds…the storybook apple orchards, with their caramel apples, rickety barns and log fences…the farm stores, their front doors flanked with dried corn stocks and pumpkins.
Autumn is the time when those most alive among us find ourselves seduced by sumptuous colors, scents and flavors in a dizzying array of tones, and cool breezes that feel as lively as they sound.
The fall season in Maine gifts us with a rapidly changing ‘now’ to be awe-inspiringly mindful of.
That’s precisely why – instead of heading immediately between Point A and Point B during an early morning errand run this morning – the wife and I saw a sign for Chase Farms and took a 45 minute detour away from our plans to soak up a little of Maine’s exceedingly-authentic early-autumn awesomeness!
The rest of our errands didn’t seem routine with a backseat full of unexpected pumpkins, winter squash and apple cider – plus a few more memories for our autumn collection: the color of mums, the piles of pumpkins, the conversation and kindness of the Farm Store cashier…
Press Play Below To View Video From Chase Farms in Wells, Maine:
Learn more about Chase Farms at their website: chasefarmswells.com
