With fall’s arrival, a chill and a thrill in the air

Poets, inspired by the colors, have written tome after tome to glorious fall, the season now officially upon us. But until this past weekend, the displays of Halloween costumes and merchandise and all that yellow and black and gold candy still hadn’t put us in the mood for fall, for the temperatures still ran high.

And then came glorious Sunday night and Monday morning, when the National Weather Service reported a record-tying 32 degrees at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Ah, fall had arrived, sneaking in well after dark.

North Carolina falls are special, and in some years, when the mountain colors are truly explosive, they are spectacular. Even the state’s foothills, 40 or 50 miles west of Charlotte, can be vibrant in their colors, and the roadways have pumpkin stands with hot apple cider.

Some greet fall for fall’s sake. Others are thankful for the relief from summer. And for generations, the season has inspired those like the late John Charles McNeill, North Carolina’s leading poet in the early 1900s, whose “October” included this stanza: “Thy glory flames in every blade and leaf/To blind the eyes of grief;/Thy vineyards and thine orchards bend with fruit/That sorrow may be mute.”

Our most colorful season is at last upon us. Thank goodness.

This story was originally published October 19, 2015 at 4:14 PM with the headline "With fall’s arrival, a chill and a thrill in the air."