© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Opinion: Nature dazzles in autumn

Autumn leaves in Bend, Oregon
Caroline Simon
/
NPR
Autumn leaves in Bend, Oregon

I'm a city kid, who can often be unmoved by nature. But I am dazzled by autumn as it unfolds.

I'm enthralled by how all the reds, tans, yellows and golds that paint the leaves that still stick to the branches and stir in the winds can become their own busy cityscape.

I'm entertained by the magic show. See these green leaves, right? Then, abracadabra, in front of our very eyes — they all take on different colors!

My wife and I spent a couple of days this week in Bend, Ore. There were maple trees along a river that looked almost like geysers, gushing up with red and gold leaves. Brown leaves spilled over the ground and crunched under our feet with each step.

We walked through parks that seemed to have become covered with sumptuous Persian carpets of leaves, winding with swirls of brown, burgundy, scarlet, and sun-bright yellow.

Dogs romped through the jumbles and clumps of those leaves, and shook them off their noses. Children scampered into the piles, knee-high, dancing and laughing, sounding beautiful, sharp, silvery bells of giggles against all the crinkling and the crunching.

Gusts of wind would whirl through the leaves there, and seemed to sculpt them into waves of red, orange, and yellow that rolled across the green of the park. At one point, a couple of leaves plonked me in the face. As a city kid, my instinct was to say, "What just hit me? Call a lawyer!" But of course, it was truly an act of nature.

There is wonder and also wistfulness in autumn's annual spectacle. The curtain of summer heat lifts, singing leaves with shades of orange, gold, and yellow. But the leaves that burn bright will soon fall away. The birds that perched and sang from along the branches for spring and summer start to pack to fly off for warmer climes. It is part of the special show of autumn that reminds us how colder days are coming, and the darkness of longer nights.

We have ways to be warm and happy in the winter ahead, too. But autumn's fleeting, fragile days of crisp mornings and bursting colors can be moments that remind us to open our eyes to the world, and to cherish and care for it while we can.

Copyright 2025 NPR

Scott Simon is one of America's most admired writers and broadcasters. He is the host of Weekend Edition Saturday and is one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast Up First. He has reported from all fifty states, five continents, and ten wars, from El Salvador to Sarajevo to Afghanistan and Iraq. His books have chronicled character and characters, in war and peace, sports and art, tragedy and comedy.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

Related Content