I remember being a kid in costume, running with my bag of goodies almost knee-deep through the newly fallen leaves of the huge sugar maple on our corner, the gold and orange leaves glowing in the dusk of a late Hallowe’en afternoon in New Jersey. Fall comes a little later there, and sugar maples are few and far between. I was lucky to have one nearby to love then and to remember now.
Ten years later I came to Boston for college, not for the topography, but I learned to love New England soon enough. We’ve lived in the same old farmhouse for twenty- nine years, planting trees in honor of people and events, raising three country kids, and sending them to three New England colleges.
Each Fall in the mid-nineties my husband and I packed up our sweaters and our youngest child and drove to Vermont’s Champlain Valley to see our oldest child, the young woman with the good taste to spend four years at Middlebury College. The college opens the beautiful and famous Breadloaf Inn to family of students each Fall for Parents’ Weekend, and I still can’t think of a nicer ride in October than the one we used to take to see our daughter: those lovely old farms in the hills, sheep grazing amid just-changed yellow and red. How amazing that even an interstate can be breathtakingly beautiful in the Green Mountains in October.” Green Mountains”, a misnomer at this time of year, if ever I heard one.
The color is fading now in Vermont and New Hampshire and Maine, but it’s still glorious here in Massachusetts. So, may I suggest a day trip while the weather is still perfect? It’s a lovely day for a jaunt through small-town New England. Take in the church fairs and farmers markets. Come see us here at Weston for a really big pumpkin or a pot of mums or a basket full of gourds. Enjoy your day!
Most important: take time to truly see the beauty all around you, the red maples and sugar maples and birches breathtaking against brilliant clarity of the sky. Even the not-yet changed leaves shimmer in the sun.
Those of us who call New England home know that this beauty is ours alone. But we should also realize that this beauty is ours to keep safe and healthy. Through the years our woodlands have been stripped. Insects and pollution have compromised the health of our forests. There’s never been a better time for each of us to do our best to preserve the New England countryside.
I’ve written about the trees my family has planted in honor of a person or an occasion, and I’m so glad we have. It’s wonderful to see them grow and to remember why they were planted. Do this at your house, or at your child’s house. This is your legacy.
But there’s one more legacy you shouldn’t forget. Three years ago I planted a native sugar maple in honor of my beautiful “adopted” home and the joy it’s given me , especially at this time of year. This week my young tree has begun to show its colors: yellow and orange and red. When I see those leaves I can’t help but remember the Hallowe’en maple by my childhood home , so I’ve mixed many lovely memories into one beautiful package.
I’ll love this tree for many years to come. And years from now, when I’m no longer here, I hope another family will love and care for it as much as I do now.
This is my Legacy. What’s yours?
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