One of the lingering memories of my childhood was Nat King Cole singing Johnny Mercer’s nostalgic hit, “Autumn Leaves.” Towards the end of October my mother would put it on their old turntable while she cooked dinner. After Thanksgiving she would switch it out to his Christmas album. Curious how evocative certain tunes and smells can be decades later.
This scene below, a favorite sweep of the Chagrin River, also reminds me of the changing seasons, drawing me to it each fall to capture the color of the landscape and listen to the flow of the river. Many will recognize the area lying just north of Fairmount on Chagrin River Road.
Normally I visit the scene mid to late October but a hip replacement altered my timing. At any rate I hobbled out today and was surprised to find some colorful maples and splashes of green here and there. The east bank of the river north to Gates Mills is home to one of the most diverse deciduous forests in NE Ohio. A variety of maples, American sycamore, beech, oaks, American black cherry, poplar and ash grow among one another. What surprised me today was the end of season yellow maples, still deeply hued and marcescent. Perhaps a sign of climate change or an act of solidarity with the beech that hold their leaves through winter.
