The leaves are changing, the days are getting shorter and the temperature is dropping: fall is in the air. There are certain things we look forward to every year with the changing of the seasons. What is there to look forward to each fall?
Foliage
The deep reds, bright yellows, and rustic orange colors of the leaves draw people to New England for leaf peeping. During the spring and summer months, leaves contain an abundance of chlorophyll which give leaves their bright green color.
Leaves actually begin changing on the first day of summer but we do not notice these changes till the fall. During this period the chlorophyll in the leaves is replaced by a color pigment without the chlorophyll.
Pumpkins
Whether you are grabbing a pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks, baking a pumpkin pie, or carving a pumpkin for Halloween, pumpkins scream fall.
The word pumpkin originates from the Greek word “pepon” which means “large melon.” The French changed the word to “pompon,” and later the British changed it to “pumpion.”
Antartica is the only continent unable to produce pumpkins.
Apples
If you haven’t noticed yet, the Fens Café has an abundance of freshly picked apples from local farms. Fall is the best time for apples. Apples mean fresh apple cider, apple pie, apple crisp, and, of course, good old hard cider.
Apples originated in Western Asia. They were popular in Europe for centuries and brought to the United States by the colonists. The United States is currently the second leading producer of apples.
A few of the top ten apples in the U.S. include Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, Mcintosh, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious and Red Delicious.
Fall TV
Every fall brings new and returning tv series. But why do televisions shows air in the fall?
“Each network tries to court advertisers by averaging the highest numbers over the course of the nine-month season, which runs from Sept. to May,” said Daniel Engber, columnist for Slate magazine.
“That said, television execs can run season premieres whenever they want. Many debut episodes get held until after Jan. 1—the so-called second season. A network might also push a show’s premiere to Oct. so it can run more fresh episodes later in the year while competitors are in reruns. Starting a show early—in the late summer, for example—shields it from the fierce competition of Sept.”
According to an avid TV viewer and blogger for the Huffington Post, Denette Wilford, here are ten of the most anticipated returning and premiering tv shows of the fall: Revolution, Nashville, The Mindy Project, The New Normal, Arrow, Grey’s Anatomy, Heartland, The Good Wife, Castle, and the Walking Dead.
Finally, the time change
This past weekend we gained an hour of sleep, an extra hour to do our Sunday homework, or an extra hour to procrastinate. On the first Saturday each Nov., we move the clocks back an hour. Why does the time change? The idea was first brought up by Benjamin Franklin in 1784.  Studies have been done to prove that Daylight Savings Time  saves energy throughout the year, although the change saves the least amount during the winter months.