As days grow shorter in the Great Smoky Mountains, the colorful landscape hums with life. Creatures large and small scurry through the blanket of fallen leaves gathering nuts and berries, crafting intricate homes to wait out the winter, and preparing for the stillness of the season ahead. 

There are many different wildflowers that signal the seasonal transition from summer into fall. 

I used to be overcome with the melancholy of fall when I would see the goldenrods (Solidago spp.) start to bloom, thinking “No, it’s too early for the end of the blooming season and the start of winter!” That’s how I used to think of fall. Goldenrods no longer usher in the sadness for me as I have successfully reframed them as a summer wildflower that blooms into fall. 

The annual corn maze and pumpkin patch will return through Oct. 31 at Darnell Farms in Bryson City. 

Hello from Cabin 156 at Tryon International, the massive equestrian center and event facility along U.S. 74, just down the mountain from Saluda. The mountains in the distance remind me of the beauty of my home that is Western North Carolina.

The Lake Junaluska Fall Plant Sale will be held from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept. 7, at the Nanci Weldon Memorial Gym at Lake Junaluska. 

Once Labor Day has come and gone, I lean fully into fall. I know that technically autumn does not officially begin until Sept. 22, but for my own personal joy, I’ve decided to initiate the season sooner.

Whoever first wrote down the phrase, “You reap what you sow” was definitely not a farmer or gardener. I’ve started following that phrase with, “…if you’re lucky.”

I guess they must exist, these people who actually like setting their clocks back an hour for daylight saving time, these fans of all things dismal and dark.  

Want to hear a corny joke about an oak tree? That was it. 

A soothing mid-fall breeze floats across my front porch, through the screen door and into the apartment, ultimately swirling around the writing desk facing a bustling Russ Avenue within sight.