Local color.

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.

~Albert Camus

Modern love.

Yesterday, I took a walk around the Phillips Exeter Academy campus with some friends, and was struck by the architecture of the George H. Love Gymnasium. Completed in 1970, it is a stark, yet beautiful contrast to the more traditional ivy-covered buildings that surround it.

Later, I searched online for more information, but could only find that it "covers an area of 220,000 square feet and includes two indoor hockey rinks, an eight-lane indoor swimming pool, exercise and weight rooms, a 130 x 200-foot gym large enough for three simultaneous basketball games, as well as training, conference, and office facilities. "

I am very curious as to how this building came to be. If anyone knows more about it, or at least who designed it, please feel free to comment or email using the links provided here!

Apples to apples.

In keeping with the Fall Harvest theme, here's a shot from a recent trip to Applecrest Orchards in Hampton, NH. Applecrest is the oldest and largest apple orchard in the Seacoast (the first tree was planted in 1913). They currently produce about 40,000 bushels of over 40 different varieties of apples each year.

Visiting Applecrest for their annual Harvest Festival (now 33 years running) has become an annual event for my friends and I. The festival offers something for everyone, with a world-famous corn roast, fresh cider & cider donuts, pie eating contests, pick-your-own apples and pumpkins, live bluegrass bands, horse-drawn orchard hayrides and a petting zoo for the kids.

This is a fantastic way to spend one of our beautifully crisp, sunny, fall New England days!

Volunteers.

Last fall, I couldn't resist buying a few of those miniature pumpkins to use as a natural table decoration when some friends came over for dinner. After a few weeks in the warm indoor temperatures, they started getting mushy, and without a thought, I tossed them into the back yard compost pile.

This spring, I dug the rich, dark, freshly-made humus from the pile, and used it to mulch my flower garden. Compost serves many functions in a garden. It makes an excellent mulch--providing organic nutrients to plants, retaining soil moisture, discouraging erosion and enriching soil texture--to name a few of many benefits.

As the summer progressed I noticed what looked like a squash or zucchini vine growing in the garden. I decided to leave it, just for the fun of seeing what it turned out to be (if anything).

As it turns out, those little pumpkin seeds can be quite hardy--and I don't need to buy any little pumpkins for the table this year!