Fall in the Neighborhood

Fall seems to be taking a long time in coming this year. Sure, the apples have been picked and here and there you can see a spot of fiery leaf if you keep an eye out, but it's also been 80 degrees more days in October than I'd really care to recall.

There's a red building I can see from the road when I'm driving to the highway that I've always loved. I've always meant to walk over there instead of driving by it so that I could take some photos because it looks so rustic. I had noticed that leaves were starting to turn in its vicinity, so I decided to walk over to see the leaves and take some photos of the building so I can cross if off the "things I have been meaning to do for 4 years" list.

It turns out that the red building sits on the edge of the dam for the City of Cambridge Water Supply. You can see the man-made dam here, and a few bright trees peeping out in the background.
Next, I walked over behind the building to see how close I could get. There's a fence around the water supply (presumably, protecting it, but other than a short chain link fence we didn't see much in the way of security), but I was able to take a few shots through the chainlink.
And, here's the water supply in all its splendor. Notice how few FALL looking trees you see in the area. It's a great view, but it could stand to look a bit more seasonal...
Luckily, I was able to find a few more bits of fall on our walk. We found a building that's cared for, but not inhabited. Not sure whether it's related to the water supply as well, but I liked the green door and scatter of fall colored leaves.
This next tree clearly knows what season it is, regardless of how the rest of the climate's behaving. The bright orange color of these leaves is my favorite fall color.
Another thing I love about fall here is the variegated look of the trees. I'd always thought of fall trees in a sort of primary school way - with all yellow, red, or orange leaves on a single tree. When I moved here, I wasn't prepared for the way that leaves would change slowly - some orange, some yellow, some still green even, all on a single tree. The color effect is beautiful, and it really helps to bring the seasonal change in slowly. You see a few leaves here and there first, and point and stare in excitement. Then, the weather starts to chill and you see the bright fall colors in denser, and denser arrays.