By Quamrul Haider

Sandwiched between the dog days of summer and the snowy winter months is autumn, Keats’ “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.” Also known as fall, autumn is the season when nature gives us its most spectacular seasonal gift – the gallery of flaming colours.
As the warm days of summer fade, mercury drops, air feels nippy, sky appears blue and the leaves of deciduous trees change colours from green to bright yellow, vibrant red, festive orange and lustrous gold. The dramatic transformation makes each leaf of a tree look like a flower and the ground, carpeted with fallen leaves, turns into a dazzling tapestry of colours.
With beautiful hillsides and mountains stretching for miles, there are plenty of places in upstate New York to experience the best of the fall foliage.
The nearest place from where we can view fall fiesta is the Catskill Mountains where the vast scenery explodes with the changing colours. From the top of the mountain, we can get a glimpse of the delicate brushstrokes of Mother Nature on a larger landscape beneath us – a collage of yellows, oranges, reds and golds.
There are few places in New York that rival the Adirondacks for viewing fall foliage. The Adirondacks offer a different sort of autumnal splendor – lakes, mountains and forests combine to create a canvas upon which nature paints her annual masterpiece.  
Also the leafy, bucolic Rose Hill and the sylvan Westchester campuses of Fordham University are aglow in colour at this time of the year. The elms, maples, pin oaks and honey locusts put on a ravishing display of the year’s last, loveliest smile.
As John Donne wrote, “No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face.” So, have a great autumn wherever you are and enjoy the fleeting riot of brilliant colours of this fascinating season before the trees retire for the long winter slumber.

The writer is Professor of Physics at Fordham University, New York.

Photos: Writer and Mahjabeen Haider