Friday thoughts in the Fall

Today in Boston is a day of clouds and sun, with sudden, brief bursts of rain. We alternate bright sun and crystal air with sudden darkening, and the rains pour down like a faucet was turned on. Much of the rain here, like on the northern West Coast, is mist. You walk along and feel no rain, but just soft air. Only if you drive do you find so much condensation on your windshield that you have to turn on the wipers.

When I was a freshly minted law student, I was sent to a central training in Washington, DC, for Reggie attorneys (a discontinued affirmative action honors program for Legal Services). I met folks from all over the country. A group of us went to visit the Supreme Court building (closed for the summer, but still pretty awe-inspiring to new lawyers). We were caught in an afternoon rainstorm, very typical of summer across the south. The guys from the Pacific Northwest were really astounded. One friend shouted, “Hey this rain is wet!” I guess they had never had anything but the misty kind of rain. I had never seen anything but the wet rain, so it seemed pretty funny to me. I sometimes wonder where they are, how they are doing. I’ve lost touch long since with the Reggie lawyers. Now I only know law librarians and profs, and administrators. Not a bad trade-off on balance!

So now, we are moving in New England into leaf peeping season. I have to admit that when I lived in St. Louis and Kentucky, I really suspected that all the reports of brighter fall foliage up north was just a bunch of hype. Well, it's all true. I love driving around my little town this time of year, and keeping tabs on the best trees from years past. For those of you who might drive out for leaf peeping, there turns out to be a Foliage Network to forecast where the fall colors are best by week and region. They cover Northeast, Southeast and Midwest, and invite interested folks to contribute leaf spotting info. Another Web-2 application -- surprise!

This page features a photo of fall colors in New York state by Hayko at http://coffee.meetup.com/167/photos/?photoAlbumId=105502&photoId=747528