Keepin’ it real since 2001
How do you rate this season? Is your favorite football team or baseball team in the rankings? Are your chosen candidates high in the polls? Where are the best places to watch the autumn leaves peak?
During this time of reflection when brilliant autumn colors are largely dependent on the weather, every sunny day brings opportunities to enjoy the changing landscape.
The combination of warm days and cool nights leads the way to optimal color sometime this month. In Naperville, fall foliage typically peaks around the middle of October, give or take a week or two. Many families take the three-day
Columbus Day weekend to experience the blazing palette that serves to beautify our surroundings until it falls with the wind and the rain.
For the most colorful photos of the season, rise and shine early when the morning dew is still on the leaves and head for the Riverwalk, the trails in Knoch Knolls, May Watts or one of the city’s many parks or forest preserves. The best photos result when the sun is at a slant, early in morning or late in the afternoon.
This cover photo of the highly acclaimed Riverwalk features the farmer’s plow, reminiscent of the city’s rural heritage, farm families and the fall harvest.
And pay attention to signs in nature that provide hints to the weather in the upcoming season. Almanacs predict that if leaves are slow to fall, a cold winter will follow. On the other hand, if onion skins are very thin, expect a mild winter.
“Even if something is left undone, everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn.”
—Elizabeth Lawrence
Garden and Gardening Writer

“Democracy is not a spectator sport.”
—Lotte Scharfman
League of Women Voters of Massachusetts
Find Naperville voter info with candidates and Illinois Propositions at PN’s Election and Voter’s Guide. Thanks for participating by being an informed voter before Nov. 4. Early voting runs Oct. 20-Nov. 1.