Late Fall on a Small Maine Island

Leaf peeping season is over for another year as we all begin the annual cleanup of all those once-glorious leaves that are now simply brown and piled up on the ground. The year moves on. This morning we awoke to frost but also to a wonderful clear day with bright blue skies and puffy white clouds. From my office window I can see whitecaps on the water and an occasional lobster boat, but the pleasure boats have long since been hauled out until next spring.
As I’ve mentioned before, fall has never been my favorite season. I love summer and can tolerate winter and always wish we could move from mid-October directly to winter, thus avoiding the unpredictable weather of late autumn. On the other hand, I’d hate to miss Thanksgiving, which is such a great holiday. I’m originally from Massachusetts, where Thanksgiving is a really big deal. It’s refreshing, isn’t it, to have a holiday that has no agenda except getting together with friends and family.
Country fair season has ended in Maine, but now churches and communities are running harvest fairs and will soon be sponsoring holiday fairs. These are always fun….tables filled with baked goods, crafts, wreaths, warm knitted sweaters and mittens, and plenty of other goodies. If you are coming to Maine in the next few weeks, be sure to watch for these fairs as they are a great way to start your holiday shopping and meet some locals at the same time. Wherever you are, enjoy the season.

Lobster buoys decorate an old Maine barn. Some Maine lobster fishermen fish all winter; others will resume in the spring. Photo (c) Karen Hammond
Lobster buoys decorate an old Maine barn. Some Maine lobster fishermen fish all winter; others will resume in the spring. Photo (c) Karen Hammond

More Leaf Peeping in Maine

The road less traveled is often the most rewarding.
Color is at its peak throughout most of Maine now. I love this photo of a road leading who-knows-where, but with the promise of something wonderful at the other end. It doesn’t matter that there are no houses or businesses or exciting historical sites to be seen — the foliage itself is worth the journey. For more information about visiting Maine and the rest of New England, check out my book, Backroads & Byways of New England: Drives, Day Trips & Weekend Excursions. Special thanks to my husband, photographer Nat Hammond, for these photos and others on this blog.