Golden Autumn categorizes different fall scenes and events, and offers to define this unique season through autumn art - paintings, photographs, sculpture; any medium which can depict or enhance the spirit of autumn.  Take the time to search this site and enjoy your favorite fall activity throughout the whole year.

September

In the United States, the first Monday in September, Labor Day, unofficially closes the door on summer and ushers in the months of autumn - September, October and November.  Unlike other holidays which commemorate and individual or celebrate a form of political independence, Labor Day was permanently established in 1885 and serves as a reminder of the labor contributions of past generations in creating the highest standard of living the world has ever known.  Come Monday, wear your best white fall fashion to the Labor Day Weekend Show; tradition dictates it shall be packed away until Memorial Day.  In some locales, school has just recently begun, and for fall to offer one last free day of summer reminiscence is quite noble.  

The aspen trees are still as green and lush as the grass, the corn is tall, yet cool, crisp mornings arrive in early September, and act as the only noticeable seasonable change – presumably mostly noticed by children waiting on a morning school bus.  Football practice has started; players sweltering in the afternoon heat incredulously anticipate contests held in November blizzards.  Time, the pace of life, seems to slow, though the shorter days are hardly noticeable.  By late September, fall foliage in high altitudes and northern latitudes begin to change to their respective autumn colors, painting the perfect fall picture.  Elk are bugling and the birds are beginning to migrate south.  By late September Maggie May has somehow grown old, and the productive, intellectual roots of winter begin to displace of the flamboyant attitudes of summer.

And then there are the three full moons of autumn.  The Harvest Moon is no ordinary full moon; it behaves in a special way, usually in September. Throughout the year the moon rises, on average, about 50 minutes later each day. But near the autumnal equinox, which comes this year (2006) on September 23rd, the day-to-day difference in the local time of moonrise is only 30 minutes. The full harvest moon will rise around sunset and not long after sunset for the proceeding evenings following the autumnal equinox, with this year’s moon rising on October 6^th.  In the Northern hemisphere, farmers working long days to harvest their crops are afforded an extra dose of lighting by the full moon directly after sunset.  In the southern hemisphere, this week's full moon behaves in exactly the opposite way - there will be an extra long time between moonrises from one evening to the next.

October

October carries a sense of scholastic romance within each of us – perhaps the chilled evenings under the lights of the high school game; the evenings pushing tissue through chicken wire to create a collegiate Homecoming float.  Or maybe it’s the dark, solitary walk back from the campus library, feet rustling through the leaves, after studying for tomorrow’s exam. 

And if you’re a sports fan, the month of October offers them all, with the World Series as its capstone.  The NFL is in full swing, the NHL regular season has just begun, and the NBA is active in pre-season competition.  This is the only time in the year when all four major sports are played at the same time.  The golf season is nearing an end in many areas.  Perfectly hit balls disappear under a carpet of fallen leaves, leaving the golfer to only shrug and enjoy the color of the birch and autumn ash trees in the warm afternoon.  Sailboats are soon to be in dry dock, mountain bikers have one last shot at dry single track, and sportsmen are hold up in deer camp.  The full Hunter's Moon shines in October; with the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt.

A recent trend towards outdoor autumn weddings has developed, adopting the month of October for its natural beauty and temperate afternoons.  Some climates experience clear days, devoid of all humidity and haze, allowing the colorful clarity of fall to filter, unabated, into our consciousness.  The autumn foliage is now in peak color and the science can be simplified: the green pigment in leaves is chlorophyll.  To maintain the amount of chlorophyll in their leaves, plants continuously synthesize it. The synthesis of chlorophyll in plants requires sunlight and warm temperatures. Because the production of chlorophyll in the autumn leaf declines, and the green color of the leaf fades.  The brightest fall colors are produced when dry, sunny days are followed by cool, dry nights.  But all this matters little while girls and boys fall into a pile of leaves.

Oktoberfest is a two-week festival held each year in Germany during late September and early October. With nearly six million people attending every year, the festival correlates directly with autumn bands, food and drink.  Columbus Day is celebrated in North America on the 2nd Monday in October and various small town fall foliage festivals are underway during these weekends.  Daylight savings time ends on the last Sunday in October. However, beginning in 2007, the United States will begin observing DST until the first Sunday in November, but if no energy savings can be shown from the extension, Congress may revert back to the current schedule.  The earlier darkness cooler temperatures confirm the reality that the best part of the year in nearing an end.

And then there is Halloween, or as some know it, “All Hallows Eve.”  The spirits supposedly rose from the dead at this time and, in order to attract them, food was left on the doors. To scare off the evil spirits, the Celts wore masks.  Now, trick-or-treaters solicit sweets outside, while those inside enjoy the fare of the times: candy corn, roasted pumpkin seeds, hot apple cider and candy apples.  Anoka, Minnesota, USA, the self-proclaimed "Halloween Capital of the World," celebrates with a large civic parade.  Salem, Massachusetts, USA, also has laid claim to the same title though Salem has tried to separate itself from its history in the subject of witchcraft. Despite that, the city does see a great deal of tourism surrounding the Salem witch trials, especially around Halloween.  Charlie Brown is waiting in the pumpkin patch for the great pumpkin, while the Headless horseman is waiting in Sleepy Hollow for Ichabod Crane. 

November

Winter has theft autumn, or so it seems.  After the first frost, and usually sometime in late October or early November, a string of warm days will typically occur – Indian summer.  And though these days are pleasant, they always serve in fall’s shadow.  Bird season arrives for the sportsman – pheasant, duck, geese, quail, and turkey. 

The politicians have their feathers ruffled as Election Day in the United States is held on the Tuesday following the first Monday of the month.  Veteran’s Day is celebrated on November 11^th to commemorate all those who have sacrificed for America’s freedoms, while Remembrance Day is celebrated in various European countries to honor the memory of WWI and other wars.

The full moon of November is known as the Beaver Moon.  This was the time to set beaver traps before the swamps froze, to ensure a supply of warm winter furs.  The leaves in the northern states have fallen and the temperatures grown very cold by mid-month.  Thanksgiving unofficially closes the autumn season and attention is soon turned towards winter and Christmas, but not before reflecting on another bygone autumn.