Fall in Oakham - our favorite time of the year

We haven't seen a whole lot of New England Falls but this one has definitely been a bit different. In the past couple of years, we've seen snow flurries before now. This year, we've seen frost a couple of times but it's only gotten down into the upper 30's once that I can remember, Today, it hit 80.

The foliage colors are at their peak and the leaf peepers are everywhere. We made a run to get lunch and do some shopping earlier today and found that couples on motorcycles and in open convertibles were everywhere (traveling way below the limit).

We are not going to be lulled into a false sense of security. We've pretty much finished our preparations for winter. I still need to get the porch rockers into the basement and Kristen keeps bugging me about marking the edges of the driveway with reflective stakes (it's much easier to plow when you know where the driveway is). Everything else is done.

I've gotten a good start on my brush clearing but I won't really be able to do the bulk of the job until the leaves are down. Around here, we're allowed to burn between January and April (ideally when there's snow on the ground and when it is lightly snowing). Before that, I'll need to get everything cut and put into piles. Our property is heavily wooded but a lot of it has been inaccessible because of the heavy brush. Wild roses, poison ivy and tree choking/killing vines are among the types of brush that I'm trying to eliminate. A number of trees are dead but have appeared to be alive because they were covered in vines. Come Spring, I'll be able to see what trees need to come down.

Kristen took this first couple of pictures on one of our morning walks:

This next bunch was taken on our walk this morning. We walked down our road, Coldbrook Rd., to Old Turnpike Rd. and back (about 2 miles round trip).

One of our favorite Oakham events our first year here was Oaktoberfest. Our second year, we learned that Oaktoberfest was a biennial event, alternating years with a Summer Fair. This should have been an Oaktoberfest year but, apparently, our Parks and Rec Department has resigned (except for the chairperson who might just be the problem). We're wondering if we'll even have an ice rink this winter.

Oakham HAS announced that this year's trick-or-treating will occur on Saturday the 28th between 5:30pm and 7:00pm and that it will be followed by a Horribles Parade from Town Hall to the Fire Station. As was the case last year, the parade will pass in front of our house and then turn up "Haunted Hill" toward the Fire Station. "Haunted Hill is the Barre St. side of our property. People (mostly volunteer firemen) hide in the brush and jump out to scare the kids as they pass (kids that don't want to be scared can walk ahead of the fire engine).

Wonder what will happen after I get that brush cut?

-JC-