“Fall colors are funny. They’re so bright and intense and beautiful. It’s like nature is trying to fill you up with color, to saturate you, so you can stockpile it before winter turns everything muted and dreary.”
—Siobhan Vivian
While it’s been said that it’s not easy to see vibrant fall autumn foliage in the Bay Area, the gold, orange, and red colors of fall foliage I’m seeing makes me feel like I’m in an artist’s painting. Ironically, when Cecile and I and our friends Nelson and Susie Bye booked a fall foliage riverboat cruise last year in the Hudson Valley, we didn’t see as much color as I’ve been witnessing here not only on the walking and bicycle paths nearby, but right in our own neighborhood.
The colors of the trees are absolutely stunning, moving from green to yellow, orange, and red as our fall foliage season is upon us. According to botanical garden experts, chlorophyll absorbs sunlight and gives
leaves their green color during the summer. As daylight hours get shorter throughout the fall, chlorophyll breaks down, revealing big, colorful pigments. Colors begin to peak the first few weeks of November, especially when nights begin to cool and allow colors to pop. The photos you see here were taken in the last two weeks on the pedestrian and biking trails nearby and around our neighborhood as a five-day rain forecast is upon us.
