Friday, September 27, 2019

September...God's gift to New Englanders by Peggy Jaeger

I moved to New England in 1994 by way of Wisconsin, and before that, New York City. Three very different geographic and meteorologic topographies, to be sure.

As a kid, I'd never experienced a New England fall, as it was called by people I knew. In NY, the leaves turned color for a few weeks, then died. End of story. In Wisconsin, we typically had snow fall when the grass was still in bloom, so I never saw the trees shift colors once in the seven years we lived there.

Not. Once.

All that changed when I moved to New Hampshire.

My first autumn in New England was one of the most beautiful times in my memory. We bought a house in the woods and every single day I watched the colors in the leaves go through their annual metamorphosis.


I never knew that reds could be so vibrant or oranges ( a color I typically do not like) so rich and deep. Gold, yellow, sage, browns tinged with amber. All these colors were new to me and I simply adored walking in my woods every day just to see what new color combos had erupted.

Back when we first moved to NH, I painted for pleasure. Not well, mind you, but I needed something for my creativity to come out. One year I did a painting of the same scene in each season. It was from my dining room and looked out on the back acreage of our property, which was the entrance to the woods surrounding us. Wasn't a surprise I liked the Autumn one the best.


My Match in Heaven romance series is centered in the fictional town of Heaven, NH and the first book, DEARLY BELOVED, takes place in the autumn. As you can see by the opening scene in this book trailer, the time of year is gorgeous:


It's so easy to fall in love with New England during the fall... and if that isn't the perfect segue for my next sentence, I don't know what is. Hee hee. This October ( DURING FALL IN NEW ENGLAND) I will be attending the Fall in Love With New England Readers and Writers conference in Nashua, NH.

I am one of the authors hosting the event and will be giving/leading 2 workshops. This is a reader-centric conference, that culminates in a 40+ romance author book signing on Saturday, October 19 at the Holiday Inn and Suites in Nashua. I'm one of the authors signing, and there are a good number of the ROMANCE GEMS who will be there as well. The signing is open to the public. For a list of the authors who will be present and signing their books, click here: authors.


If you've never been lucky enough to experience a new England fall, what we call LEAF PEEPING SEASON, you should really gift yourself a trip one of the years to see it first hand. Pictures only capture a moment. The season's colors should be seen in all their glory, up close and personal.

Until next time ~ Peg



29 comments:

  1. Canada has some spectacular colours too! I’ve seen lots on this trip already. Enjoy the conference!

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  2. Yes - the higher we go in North America, the greater the colors!!!

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  3. I've been a leaf-peeper several times and loved it. However, I also love mud season, so we KNOW I'm a serious New England convert!

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    1. You are definitely a convert if you like mudseason! What about black fly season??

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  4. One of my favorite times of the years. We're lucky to have it all around us. See you soon at FILWNE.

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  5. We used to travel to New England to see the fall foliage, back before we had kids. Now that the kids are out of the house, I hope to do it again sometime.

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  6. Living in New England I guess you don't really appreciate how gorgeous this area is in the Fall (or any season) until you aren't here to enjoy it. Even though I'll be heading south for the colder winter months, I will still make sure to be here through this magical season.

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  7. Sadly, Kentucky is in the worst drought on record. My tree leaves are turning because the trees are dying.

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    1. ugh! Jan, sorry to hear that. Two years ago we had so much rain during the spring and summer the leaves turned in 2 days!

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  8. I've always wanted to visit New England in the Fall. Thank you for a lovely post.

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  9. Great post, Peggy! You know me, I LOVE autumn in New England, and you describe it perfectly here. (I'm with Kari... When you live or travel elsewhere and miss out you finally understand) I also love your beautiful cover and book trailer. Can't wait to see you and our other Gems friends at FILwNE!

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    1. Girl, I can't wait either!!!! We are blessed to live here

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  10. I've never visited that far northeast, but I'd love to some time. The photos are just magnificent. Have fun at the conference. It looks great

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  11. I love our falls here in MA. So pretty! We are already approaching mid-season...things are just turning. Gorgeous and soon when peak - ahhhh! Looking forward to trying to get to that conference next year!

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  12. Given our awesome fall (September is my favorite month because it's like second summer here...), we tend to forgive our BRUTAL winters. White and cold and so much snow for 6 months of the year! sigh! Come April we are dying to see some green!

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    1. I'm never mad at the long winters here. They are nothing compared to wisconsin. My birthday is in may and my daughters in late september. Three years in a row the snow that fell in the beginning of october was still on the ground on my birthday. snowfall in NH is nothing compared to that!

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  13. Fall is definitely my favourite time of year. Love all the colours. Thanks for sharing.

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  14. I yearn to see a New England Fall. Friends are there now and I can't keep from feeling jealous. Thanks for sharing. The opening of your video is PERFECT to set the tone for the book.

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    1. Caroline, I said this to Joan and Barbara above: #ROADTRIP!!!

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  15. Your so right, Peggy! There's so much to love about Leaf Peeping Season. Hey, I could have called the conference, Fall in Love with Peeping. (Uh, no. That sounds all kinds of wrong!

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  16. I had to read your call name up above twice before I realized it was you!!! hee hee.

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