This is an archived article. The autumn foliage season is upon us.
Trees blaze red, orange, yellow.
Others, such as oaks, turn brown. Their leaves flutter down, first one at a time, then in flurries, with each tree following its own schedule. When winter comes, these leaves will be pressed flat beneath the snow, like sodden, brown pages. Then, during summer's warmth, the microbes will eat them, releasing gases to the atmosphere, fiber to the topsoil, and nutrients back to the next crop of leaves. The marshy area at the foot of Horsebarn Hill, looking toward the Kellogg Dairy Barn.