Remembering the sweet pollution of yesteryear

From Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com

I suppose  fewer folks than usual will be driving around New England looking at foliage this fall because of  states’ COVID restrictions, which among other things, make it more difficult to get rooms in hotels or inns and  and  tables in restaurants. Many have closed for good. Too bad, those lurid leaves are our region’s greatest natural show, except for maybe a big bad blizzard or heavy-duty hurricane, and bright foliage can last for several weeks, not a few hours, unlike a big storm.

Oh well, our terrible drought means that the colors won’t be as bright this year anyway….

Northern New England has the greatest foliage festival. I particularly remember from back in the ‘60s, when I lived up there, the spectacular shows on Route 100, which goes up through the middle of Vermont, and the Kancamagus Highway, in the White Mountains.

By the dreaded Election Day, on Nov. 3 this year, leaves will  cover the ground, which reminds me of the sweet smoke that used to fill the air from burning  the leaves we’d rake into big piles. The yearly smoke produced a feeling of mellowness and nostalgia. Now such outdoor burning is generally banned because of the serious air pollution it causes. (I remember, too, the air pollution from wood stoves during the energy crises of the ‘70s.) Now, too many people, or the people they hire (including very hard-working illegal aliens), use also polluting (emissions and shrieking noise) leaf blowers, not rakes, to collect the leaves. An improvement?

The disappearance of leaf-burning reminds me of the exit of other unhealthy but pleasant activities, such as smoking a cigarette after a meal and one or two cocktails before dinner. These habits tended to shorten lives, and so it’s good they have faded. But I’ve seen no explosion in  general happiness as a result.

If you do go leaf-peeping, watch out for slippery fallen leaves if we finally get some rain, as well as rutting deer and moose.