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Come Harvest the Fall;
A Guide to Autumn in the Berkshires (This interactive feature was written by SE O'Callaghan and re-edited by Karyn Mayhew-White for BerkshireWeb. All rights reserved 2000).
Of the many places of natural beauty in this world, there are but few which can compare to the transformation of the New England countryside from dark green to the rainbow explosion of hues which characterize the changing season. Botanists will tell of the autumnal shutdown of photosynthesis and all of the biology that goes into the spectacular transformation from summer to fall, but this is far from a satisfying way to describe how Autumn feels and looks. To truly experience the season, it is recommended that you might wander through the sun-dappled hills, breathe the air from newly stoked chimneys, and listen the whoosh of wind through leaf-shedding arbors. And once you have visited you will be captivated and compelled to return again and again to admire the brightly colored landscape that puts us in awe of nature. The Berkshires, at this time of year, presents a vista unmatched by other seasons or places. Autumn in New England is an event that travelers from all over the globe make a point of catching; not just for the beauty, but for the harvest festivals, the end of the season cultural attractions, the agricultural fairs and the last of the summer sports. The Berkshires, legendary for the view, continues to offer the adventurer numerous events, whether it be sports, culture or just plain celebrating the season, in the surroundings we have just described.
According to poet William Harmon, Keats considered Autumn the “human season,” different from the “superhuman creativity of Spring or the otherworldly extremism of Summer and Winter.” The equinox reminds us that life’s only constant is change and for those lucky enough to be in the Berkshires at this time, the change is one of equal parts wonder and beauty. Please join us in the Autumn of 2000, right here in the Berkshires.
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One of the greatest poets of the English language, John Keats, wrote
this about Autumn: “Seasons of mist and mellow fruitiness, close
bosom-friend of the maturing sun; conspiring with him how to load and
bless with fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run….” Though
these lines were written in 1819, they might well describe the seasonal
bridge from Summer to Winter in the Berkshires.
