The first day of fall!

At 4:18 pm today summer is over and fall is here. Beth said that means the leaves are going to change colors. She said it is the prettiest time of year. She told me we will be going on a lot of little trips up by the North Shore because the colors are spectacular! As you can see some of the leaves on our vines are turning color now. We have a lot of pine needles in our yard too. Not so pretty, just kind of messy. I asked Beth if the trees are dying because they aren't the pretty green any more. She found a website and read it to me and now I kinda understand it. I figured you probably would want to know too so I am going to try and explain it to you as we go. Just to warn you it has some big words that hardly anyone knows how to say so just kinda sound them out and it will be okay. You will get the idea of what's going on with the trees. I will add things as we go so it's easier to understand. OKAY, here goes....It says -- leaves are nature's food factories. Plants take water from the ground through their roots. (roots are the things underground that makes the plants grow, kinda like their tummy) They take a gas called carbon dioxide from the air. (not a clue here, folks) Plants use sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into glucose. Glucose is a kind of sugar. (you know like we use to make cookies) Plants use glucose as food for energy and as a building block for growing. (like what we do when we eat food that is good for us) The way plants turn water and carbon dioxide into sugar is called photosynthesis. (Oh no, BIG WORD) That means "putting together with light." A chemical called chlorophyll (just nod your head like you know) helps make photosynthesis happen. Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color. (but it is not paint, I asked) As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter. (they don't shrink or get skinny they mean it gets darker sooner) This is how the trees "know" to begin getting ready for winter. During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis. (that is because it freezes and the day light is not as long) The trees will rest, (yep, they take a nap) and live off the food they stored during the summer. (kinda like the squirrels) They begin to shut down their food-making factories. The green chlorophyll (just nod) disappears from the leaves. As the bright green fades away, we begin to see yellow and orange colors. (pretty) Small amounts of these colors have been in the leaves all along. (they were just playing hide and seek) We just can't see them in the summer, because they are covered up by the green chlorophyll. The bright reds and purples we see in leaves are made mostly in the fall. In some trees, like maples, glucose is trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. (like they are in a box and can't get out). Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn cause the leaves to turn this glucose into a red color. The brown color of trees like oaks is made from wastes left in the leaves. (nod). It is the combination of all these things that make the beautiful colors we enjoy in the fall. That was a lot to read wasn't it? But that is the process trees go through every year. Beth said I will really enjoy the view! This is my very first fall!
ANOTHER good thing about fall is that it is right next to winter (I looked it up) and it will snow pretty soon and I LOVE SNOW!
Better go and look out the window -- I wonder if they will all change colors today? I better check -- I don't like to miss ANYTHING!
Remington -- Your Autumn (another word for fall) Boy -- out!