I have no doubt that October comes everywhere and it is beautiful when it comes, but I am persuaded that when it comes in Vermont it simply explodes in full bloom splashing gold, orange, yellow, and red across the canvas of the Green Mountains. The gurgling streams serenade a response to the symphony cascading from the trees above as the sun shines down brightly from the cloudless azure skies.
During morning walks and hikes where the sunlight filters through the painted leaves, everything within me is drawn to praise the One who created all that surrounds me. Each season displays something unique and wondrous about Him, but in autumn it is such a glorious showy display. Over and over again Isaiah 55:12 resounds within me:
Isaiah 55:12 New International Version (NIV)
You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.
People come from everywhere for this grand display in the midst of small towns and villages scattered across the mountains of Vermont. Some gaze from the vantage point of the interstate highways that give panoramic views of mountains that look like paint pots of color. The view goes on mile after mile while your eyes eagerly race ahead to take in the vista at each turn to take and the veritable feast of beauty unfolds before your eyes.
But to get a more intimate view, you need to leave the interstate and search out the two 
lane roads like Vermont routes 100 and 108 that meander through the scene between walls of color made brighter by the sunlight filtering through them.
That will let you see the red barns tucked here and there in fields carved out of small lush valleys. It will let you catch sight of the beautiful tall white spires of churches dotting the landscape and it will also invite you to taste the season. As cider mills, maple syrup farms, and the wonderful Cabot white cheddar cheese stores offer their harvest for sample and sale along the country roads, you will not be able to resist a cup of hot apple cider along with a warm apple cider doughnut.
You’ll be reminded that maple syrup comes from these stunning sugar maple trees awash in their bright red leaves rather than from the bottle you pick up at your local grocery. Those who harvest the sap and boil it to create the syrup will acquaint you with the grades, colors, and uses of the sap made into such a delicious syrup. Each grade and type has a special purpose and no matter whether it is the first and best light colored liquid that goes for the highest price or the darkest amber of the last liquid drawn off and used for cooking, it is all good.
Walking along these colorful paths in Vermont will most of all take you back to the Creator because His creation declares His glory at every turn. Your heart and spirit are quieted in His presence as your feet walk along streams, follow footpaths down wooded trails, and climb the pathways to waterfalls.
Your heart is also awakened to praise that He too uses every thing, every season for His glory and our good.
No matter how dark the moment may seem, He is present in it with us and His light will lead us home.
Just wondered into your blog tonight and must ask you how long this fall beauty will last. We are in Kentucky right now and the colors are just starting. Would love to drive to New England and seee where by father was born in Vermont if the colors will be good for a little while.
Blessings,
Dorothy
Hi Dorothy! The colors were at peak in the Stowe/Waterbury area when we were there 10/9-10/14. It would depend on the weather, etc. of where they would be now. You can usually find websites that will tell you where the leaf color is in various parts of the state. We saw changes of more of the red colors falling by the end of the week we were there. If there was rain and wind since then, I am not sure what to say. It is definitely a trip you want to make….if not now, then next year a bit earlier when you hit peak color. Be sure to make reservations early because hotels fill up fast during peak season. Blessings right back to you!
Oh, boy! I need to add ‘Visit Vermont in the Fall’ to my bucket list! Fall in Arizona exists, but the splashes of color are fewer and scarecly any red. I love how each season reminds us of a different aspect of God’s love!
I could not agree with you more, Anita!! Amen!! Even in Ohio we have fewer red colors and this year that is especially true because we had the hottest and driest summer ever recorded and our leaves are just now turning and may well fall before they have displayed their oranges and yellows so common in early October.
Beautiful photos, beautiful Words. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing these gorgeous photos. I love watching the leaves change here in North Dakota too. Blessed to be your neighbor at Testimony Tuesday today.
Ah, North Dakota….a great place! We have traveled through there several times and visited the Badlands that you have (as well as those of South Dakota). Have a beautiful October day!!
Those are gorgeous Autumn views. The colour is astounding.
That bible passage could go along with Spring too. Here in Australia the flowers are coming out in abundance, it’s lovely to see. However it hasn’t warmed up here in the south, it’s still a little cold and windy. I like to ring bunches inside to brighten up the house though.
Vermont does it like nowhere else it seems (except perhaps New Hampshire). Thanks for the reminder of where you are in seasons from “down under”. I am sure those spring flowers are beautiful!!
My mother was always intrigued with barns, especially red ones. She once did a painting of one she remembered. The Mable syrup information was awesome. I use it often in my cooking and to add to tea. thank you for sharing with us here at Tell me a Story.
Oh gorgeous, gorgeous! Being new to New England, this is a jaunt we’ve yet to take. Thanks for playing tour guide for me, friend. This looks like a trip to look forward to next year. I appreciate the tips as well as the wonderful snapshots.
I’m so happy you’ve been able to get away from life-as-you-know-it! New England’s the place to do it!
;-}
Thanks, my friend! I can share more tips with you if you make the trek next year than those noted in the post. I may share in the next post just a bit more…not sure yet. Love and hugs from a warm 79 degree Ohio!!!
I grew up in Northern Vermont, and these pictures bring back lovely memories.
I am so glad!!
Lovely, lovely pictures. God draws us to nature as it is His perfect creation, I believe. And to remind us that we are made in His image. I read recently trees have a healing effect too, on our mental and physical health. He really has given us all we need hasn’t He?
Thanks, Lynn! You do such a great job with photos that I am humbled by your compliment!! Yes, He definitely has given us all we need!!
Absolutely stunning view from your camera and from your heart tied to God’s. I lived in Virginia for a number of years and loved Fall there. My husband’s mother had one desire after she became widowed and that was to see a New England Fall. Her son and two daughter took her to Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont for two weeks. She pulled out her photo album so very often after that trip because she loved just what you have described here. They tasted and they saw what the good Lord He did make. They even came home with a few tee shirts for me! (My husband and I honeymooned in Maine with a bit in NH and MA too….loved every minute of that but it was Spring which was gorgeous in another whole way!) You have blessed me. I think I shall forward this to my husband. It will bless him so too.
Thanks so much! It was a wonderful trip that the Lord especially favored with stunning color AND weather. I have more pics I may be incorporating in the next few posts…we’ll see. How blessed for your mother-in-law to have that trip! I have a good friend who was born and raised in ME and used to teach with me and we visited Maine some years ago, but it was summer. I hope your husband is blessed if you forwarded this post! Blessings on you!