Early signs of color in the Kingdom

[admin]

Sunday was one of those early fall days...plenty of sunshine and even humidity and in the woods near my house, early signs of foliage. http://www.video-vermont.com/video/?p=884

[ctyanky]

Great video Tim and exceptional music to accompany it as well! Very exciting! There is a lot of early color around here in northern CT as well. Especially near the VT/MA border where I was on Saturday.

Looking forward to seeing you during my trip and will contact you soon!

Thanks again for a beautiful video!

[ixl]

Nice video, Tim!

There's substantial early color in the Route 9 highlands as well, possibly even more than I saw in that video. Much of it the outer treetops. Still rather muted but it's early.

Looks like a cold snap late this week (lows down to the upper 30s in the mountains) and possibly an even colder one the weekend of the 14th.

[Utah Baker]

Tim, thanks for taking us all on a lovely walk thru the woods. I enjoyed it very much.

[reporterjoel]

Joel Baird here, reporting for the Burlington Free Press. I'm seeing some soggier-than-usual maples by Lake Champlain starting to turn, but otherwise, just a few leaf-blighted hardwoods in the area are turning.
Any consensus out there on whether the season is on-time, late or earlier than usual? - I'm writing a piece that will run Sunday; would appreciate input from folks who clearly have their eyes peeled! - thanks in advance,
Joel
joelbaird@burlingt.gannett.com
newsroom phone: (802) 660-1843

[ixl]

Anyone who makes a prediction at this point is reading tea leaves -- it's just too early. Need to get a couple of good cold snaps under our belt, at least one of which is already on the way.

[ctyanky]

Hi Joe! Welcome to our forum! I am really looking forward to reading your piece in the BFP on Sunday! However, I have to concur with ixl as it is still early for any kind of prediction to be set in stone. The cold spell coming over New England this weekend should surely set things in motion (30's and 40's with chance for frost in the NEK). So maybe by the end of next week we'll get a better feel for the turning of the foliage up there. I defer to my VT friends (they would be Tim our webmaster, ixl, bm and pwt, our forum VTers) who know best what direction the color will be headed early on before the rest of us flatlanders arrive with our own reports.

Nonetheless, I hope you get some "good stuff" for your piece on Sunday and please visit here often during the foliage season when things really ramp up on the Scenes of Vermont Foliage Forum. This is the best place to be for all things Vermont: where to go, what to see, what to do and where to find the best backroads and color during the entire season!

Thanks for visiting! And for what it is worth, I think this is going to be a stellar season in the great state of Vermont!

[reporterjoel]

Hello, CT!
Are you the author of that great essay on the ScenesOfVermont homepage - ("Finding the Elusive Peak")? A wonderful perspective. If it's yours, I'd love to quote from it...
May I use your real name (and if so-- what is it?) ?

Another discussion point: editors can be an excitable bunch, and tend to go overboard when they get "tips" that suggest something out-of-the-ordinary is happening. To be fair, that's their job.

But as a reporter, and in the case of reports they're hearing of an "early" foliage season, I'm more interested in what might be prompting that perception. Scientists have noted highly localized instances of surplus or deficits in water; fungi or insects... but it's reassuring to see on this forum, that even the most zealous of foliage enthusiasts (and I mean that in a positive way!) aren't leaping to conclusions.

Attentive? By all means. But folks here seem to be celebrating, rather than drawing broad conclusions about how and where leaves are turning. Is this a fair portrayal? I'd appreciate hearing from anyone on the forum with an opinion - either here, on the forum (my deadline is today, Thursday afternoon), or feel free to give me a call on my newsroom line: (802) 660-1843.

Thanks yet again,

Joel Banner Baird
Burlington Free Press

[sharan]

I sure hope it's not too early. I can't get there before October 5.

[reporterjoel]

No signs that this is earlier-than-usual!

[ctyanky]

Hi Joel: Thank you very much for your compliment on my essay on Finding the Elusive Peak on the main page of Foliage-Vermont. Unfortunately, I write under my pen name only and do not reveal my real name as you can see others who have done similarly on the site.

I have done numerous essays on Tim the webmaster's blog and basically he owns my writings. I just spoke with him and he says you are welcome to quote from the essay I wrote but you will have to use my CTYANKY pen name . Please do refer back to the site specifically the foliage forum under foliage-vermont. I am very respectful of his wishes as he is of mine!

I hope this helps and once again, I am flattered if you do chose to quote from my essay and am looking forward to reading your Sunday piece!

CT

[reporterjoel]

Thanks for your permission, CT -

Your nom-de-foliage it will be!

Joel