The Fireworks of Fall

By Barry Hulse
Contributing Writer

Fall on the Southern border of South Dakota extends into November, which allows for just a few more weeks of vibrant colors and walkable days on the bike paths and trails along the Missouri River and Lewis and Clark Lake. I compare the length of fall to my days back in Minot, North Dakota, where autumn had lost its brilliance by the middle of October and white snow usually replaced the colors of fall.

Growing up in North Dakota I cherished each season. Summer was so anticipated and revered that when it was over a sense of despair and agony loomed over head. I have this recurring image in my mind and it comes to me each fall where I am pulling on this rope and attached to the other end is summer and I just won’t quit pulling and pulling.

The dread of another long winter and the hope for less snow permeated my thoughts as an adult but as a child the dreams of drifts of snow so high you would not be able to attend school often repeated themselves. We still have winter but it is shorter down here. Spring and fall are longer which tends to make summer seem longer too.

My family and I have enjoyed our weekends at the lake and as the season of camping comes to a close I reflect on the last days at the campground for this season’s campers’ in a poem I have titled “The Ranger’s not here”

The Ranger’s Not Here

We enter the park with the Fleetwood in tow
Some trees are undressed others red, yellow and gold.
The air has a chill, a freshness, anew
All the grass is wet with a cold heavy dew.
We meander past campsites most open few taxed
While beaches are empty and the turtles relaxed.
The sun is glistening, a mirrored glare across the lake, shining through trees near the shore
A sailboat is lonely, has the lake to itself, as it floats passed silent cabins their renters no more.
Campfires are quiet, children at school, the season seems over but not for us few
We trek back to the dock, a boat and some buoys hoping to claim another weekend for just two.
The leaves crinkle as we bike the paths, in solitude we are not, for squirrels digging around
The Cedars are filled with silver blue berries and the oaks have all dropped a blanket of brown.
We pull out the awning and lower the grill, up goes the net for a little beach ball
Rains have been plenty; beaches are narrow, this late in the summer, no dog days at all.
They talk to us as the waves hit the rocks, leaves on the cotton woods, and birds in the trees
A crisp frost greets us, it’s the last weekend here as our Fleetwood takes in the last summer breeze.
Boats out of water except for a few they remain tied to docks hoping their time is near
We packed up the camper drove past the post as we noticed a sign in our rearview that said; thank you for camping with us “the Rangers not here.”

Summer is a time I anticipate with great favor and I am thankful for autumn which extends to us that last big farewell, the fireworks of leaves changing color. I remember when my son was younger and we were horseback riding on a trail overlooking the badlands of North Dakota late one fall.

My son turned to me and asked, “Why do leaves change their color?”

I said, “The Chlorophyll that supports the green color in the leaves during the warmth of the summer is reduced in the cool of the fall and therefore the remaining colors are yellow and orange. In the case of the maple tree, glucose is trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops and this produces the brilliant red color we often associate with the maple tree in the fall.”

He looked surprised at my response, not knowing that I had recently covered that in a class that I taught. It’s nice when things work out that way and you can respond to those “why questions” with a legitimate answer.

Fall is full of color from the wheat fields along the northern border of North Dakota to the corn fields along the Southern border of South Dakota. The Dakotas have so much to offer and so many sites to see; the Dakotas are a great place to live.

Questions and comments: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)