Do you remember those halcyon autumn days of yesteryear, when a crisp tang in the air signaled Mother to pack a picnic and Father to fuel up the family gas-guzzler for a Sunday jaunt to the mountains to admire the fall colors?
Do you remember, I mean of course, last year, when gasoline prices hovered just below a trifling $1.90 per gallon and tanking up for a weekend drive to the country wouldn't set you back the equivalent of the GDP of a developing nation?
You may be wondering whether the only place you'll likely be seeing red this fall is at the gas pump. Happily, whether you prefer to take in your seasonal splendor by road or by water, in tent or on horseback, by bicycle or even by biplane, our region offers an abundance of destinations, all surprisingly close, where you can get outside and get some autumn.
Know Your Science
But first, a pop quiz: Why do our deciduous trees lose their leaves in the fall?
"Primarily to conserve water," says John Scrivani, resource information director for the Virginia Department of Forestry. (Don't worry, I didn't know the answer either.) Trees suck up water in the summer, and those broad, green leaves transpire a lot of it -- that is, breathe it out into the atmosphere. Once its leaves are shed, the plant can more easily survive the winter, when water is more likely to be scarce because it's frozen in the ground.
That's the short answer to the question. And it's the shorter hours of daylight that trigger a tree to begin its shift from industrious photosynthesis factory of summer to dormant, bleak and bare-branched metaphor that has launched a thousand lines of poetry.
In between, we get the evanescent glory of autumn color, those saucy scarlets and fiery oranges, bright golds and deep purples. Strictly speaking, the leaves don't really change color, they just lose some -- the green from the chlorophyll, which the trees stop making. "The colors are actually there the whole time," Scrivani explains. "It's just that the green color that has been masking them goes away.
"Warm, sunny days and cool, crisp nights without a heavy frost help speed up the process of breaking down the chlorophyll," he says.
Though it's not easy to predict exactly when the colors will peak, the eastern United States, Scrivani says, "is one of the notable areas in the world in terms of fall colors. That's when our hardwood forests are showcased the most. It's a great time to be outdoors."
For more on why deciduous trees in wintry climes lose their leaves in autumn, visithttp://www.earthsky.com/earthcare/shows.php?s=o&date=20041122.
VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY --http://www.dof.virginia.gov/info/fall-foliage-map.shtml. Learn more about leaves and get fall foliage reports and recommended foliage trips.
MARYLAND PARKS FALL FOLIAGE UPDATE --http://www.dnr.state.md.us/outdoors/fallfoliage.
