Oh No! Where did the Summer Go?

Posted on August 31, 2017August 31, 2017 by Dusty Roads | 4 Comments

Summer’s Last Gasp

Picnic table

It’s still summer. August is still summer and it’s only August 31. According to the weather folks tomorrow, September 1, is the first day of meteorological fall. Oh boo hoo! Fall in New England is nice but I miss summer already. Labor Day weekend is the last long weekend, our last chance for summer fun.

Signs of Fall are all around us

The seasons change and the signs are there. School has started. I got stuck behind a school bus on the way to work. The turkeys are getting restless. I saw two big turkeys by the side of the road on my way home tonight. A big maple tree on Route 140 has begun to turn colors! Already! The nights are cool and mornings have a crispness to the air. A sweater or jacket might be in order. I can open a window and turn off the air conditioner. Football is top of mind as the boys of summer fade away. Another fall sign that’s not so nice is the ragweed. Seems like we have a bumper crop this year. Excuse me while I sneeze.

Road trips are calling

Along with the cooler nights will be the fall colors. Leaves will be changing. Our roads will be filled with leaf peepers but even I plan to be one of them. Maybe a trip down the Mohawk Trail or back to New Hampshire to visit a place called Diana’s Baths. They are a series of waterfalls and cascades. I have it on good authority that although they are lovely any time of year, fall is especially pretty.

Cranberry Harvest Festivals

In Massachusetts, home to Ocean Spray, fall means the cranberry harvest. From mid- September until late in the fall, cranberries reach their peak of color and flavor. The landscape is dotted with the bright red cranberry bogs as they wait for the harvest. Cranberries can be harvested wet or dry. Interested in visiting a cranberry bog? We’ve got lots of farms for tours or products.

Down on the cape the cranberry harvest season begins around Labor Day and usually runs into the middle of November. The Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association has created a cranberry harvest trail guide.

Cranberry bog

I love cranberries. Maybe fall’s not so bad after all!

Labor Day

Posted on September 2, 2013September 2, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Here it is, Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer, the last day to wear white, a day of parties and cook outs and barbeques.

I looked for something new to say about Labor Day but it’s all pretty much the same thing.

The first observance of Labor Day is believed to have been a parade on September 5, 1882, in New York City, probably organized by Peter J. McGuire, a Carpenters and Joiners Union secretary.

By 1893, more than half the states were observing a “Labor Day” on one day or another, and a bill to establish a federal holiday was passed by Congress in 1894. President Grover Cleveland signed the bill soon afterward, designating the first Monday in September as Labor Day.

We’ve all heard that many times. Whenever you google Labor Day that same history comes up. I wanted something new. I may have found it in the 2010 census. I know , a bit out of date but it was the most recent I could find. So here goes, a few facts you might not have known about Labor and/or Labor Day.

134 Million Americans work from home thanks to Skype and the High Speed Internet.
The average time to commute to work is 25.3 minutes.
76% drive alone to work.
9.7% carpool to work
4.9% take public transportation
155.2 million =Number of people age 16 or older in the nation’s labor force. As of 2012, 53% were men and 47% were women.

So now you have some numbers to chew on over your burgers and wings. I hope everyone enjoys the day.

Oh No It’s The “Brrr” Months

Posted on September 1, 2013September 1, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Meteorological Fall is now here. While fall doesn’t officially begin till September 22nd, the weather begins to shift a couple weeks before the arrival of each new season on average. For data purposes the National Weather Service calculates the season statistics from the beginning of June through the end of August. Since the first day of each season can vary, this makes it easier to calculate statistics and compare them from year to year. I admit, hearing the weather forecaster announce that last night made me sit up and take notice. It can’t be fall already. I never got to enjoy summer!

Around here we refer to September, October, November and December as the “Ber” months or more commonly the “Brrrr” months because they herald the onset of cooler and eventually colder weather. By December the shivers have usually really set in.

I remember when I was growing up in the Adirondacks that to go Trick or Treating on Halloween we had to be bundled in snow suits. More than once our costumes wouldn’t fit over the winter gear so all anyone saw when we came to the door were our masks.

After I moved east to Massachusetts the weather seemed to mellow and kids could go trick or treating without snowshoes but then in 2011 we got hit with a Halloween Nor’easter, the first significant snowstorm in October sine 1972!

Today I’m enjoying a rainy Sunday. There’s thunder and lightening and steady rain. It’s not too cold but at least I haven’t put the AC or heat on yet. I know a lot of people are hoping the sky clears and the sun comes out to give everyone a last taste of summer on this holiday weekend.

This summer was gone too fast, filled with changes and distractions but now children are headed back to school and vacations are over. I’m hoping my work schedule can settle in so that I can enjoy the fall. Maybe get to take some day trips leaf peeping with my camera. Anyway I’m going to chalk this summer up to the one I missed. Happily they come around once each year.

Oh I almost forgot…the Old Farmers Almanac is predicting a cold winter…BRRRRR.