10 fun facts in time for fall

Autumn is a season of many changes, with some of the most notable including the dramatic multicolored displays that occur just prior to trees shedding their leaves. It’s also a time of year when many people feel reenergized by cooler temperatures and spend many hours outdoors enjoying all that fall has to offer.

Whether one is collecting leaves, picking apples, exploring corn mazes, or driving the countryside enjoying the foliage, autumn is full of fun facts that can make the season that much more enjoyable.

1. Autumn begins on the autumnal equinox, which occurs on or near September 22 in the northern hemisphere. This year, September 22 is the day when the sun crosses the celestial equator moving southward. When the equinox occurs, there are an equal number of daylight and nighttime hours.

2. Since ancient times, autumn has been an important time of year for many civilizations. Autumn is a main harvesting time in many areas, and a successful harvest was once necessary for survival. Many steps are, and have long been, taken to ensure a bountiful autumn harvest.

3. Fall is a time when trees and other plants prepare for dormancy during winter. As autumn progresses and the hours of daylight gradually decrease, trees begin to close down their food production systems and reduce the amount of chlorophyll in leaves. Chlorophyll is the chemical that makes tree leaves green, and as it declines, other chemicals become more prominent and shine through in the leaves. That is why leaves change color.

4. Some scientists believe that global climate change can impact autumn colors, such as delaying the change in trees. Also, red pigments may start to decline as trees use sugary fuel to grow new twigs rather than to cause red leaf displays.

5. Americans more readily refer to this time of year as “fall,” while the British use “autumn.” Both terms date back to around the 16th century. Prior to this period, autumn was known as “harvest.”

6. Much of the United States bids farewell to monarch butterflies in the fall. Each autumn, monarch butterflies migrate from the United States to Mexico and some parts of Southern California. They fly at speeds ranging between 12 and 25 miles per hour.

7. A study of U.S. centenarians born between 1880 to 1895 published in the Journal of Aging Research, found that babies born during autumn months are more likely to live to age 100 than those born during the rest of the year. Thirty percent of the centenarians followed were born during the fall.

8. Squash, pumpkins and other gourds are prominent in the fall. The largest squash grown on record belonged to Joel Jarvis of Ontario, and his huge winner weighed in at 1,486.6 pounds in 2011.

9. The many-colored leaves are not the only display one might see during the fall. The autumn equinox signals the aurora borealis, also called the Northern Lights. Besides the lengthening of nights and cool evening weather, which are great for stargazers, autumn is “aurora season,” according to NASA. That’s because, during the fall, geomagnetic storms are about twice as frequent as the annual average.

10. Full moons are named for the month or season in which they rise. The Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox. 

Coping With Fewer Hours of Daylight

Daylight saving time comes to an end each fall, at a time when the hours of available sunlight already are beginning to decline.  

Some people are more accustomed to darkness than others. Norwegians, Swedes and people living in Alaska and the upper reaches of Canada near or above the Arctic Circle may go through a period when winters can be especially dark. Fairbanks, Alaska, gets just three hours and 42 minutes of sunlight on the winter solstice. Those in Barrow, Alaska, will endure a period of 67 days of darkness, according to Alaska.org. Residents of Seattle, which is even further north than cities such as Fargo, North Dakota, or Portland, Maine, deal with more darkness than those living outside the city may know.

Although much of the rest of North America doesn’t experience such profound periods of darkness, when the darkness of fall and winter arrives, it can be difficult to maintain a positive outlook. Borrowing some of the coping mechanisms relied on in northern latitudes can help many people to see the dark in a different light.

• Be aware of SAD. Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, is defined by the Mayo Clinic as a type of depression that’s related to changes in seasons, beginning and ending at about the same times each year. Symptoms tend to start in the fall and continue into the winter, sapping energy and making a person feel moody. As with other types of depression, SAD can get worse and lead to severe problems if left untreated. Light treatment, talk therapy and medication can help people who are susceptible to SAD.
• Make daylight hours count. Spend time outdoors while the sun is bright in the sky. Make an effort to switch your schedule if work interferes with getting outdoors, even if all that can be managed is an outdoor walk at lunch. Sit by a bright window and soak up rays whenever possible. • Celebrate winter activities. Go skiing, snowboarding, outdoor ice skating, or snowshoeing. Look forward to winter for what can be done, rather than what can’t.
• Socialize more often. Instead of holing up indoors alone, frequent the places that become indoor gathering spots for locals. These can include coffee houses, breweries, restaurants, or even the local church. Plan more social occasions with friends and families so everyone can collectively shoo away the winter blues.
• Exercise more. Use the darker hours as an excuse to exercise more, be it at the gym or outside. The Mayo Clinic says that exercise and other types of physical activity can relieve anxiety and depression, lifting an individual’s mood as a result.
• Light a fire. Set the kindling ablaze in a fire pit, fireplace or wood burning stove, or just light a handful of candles. Flames can be soothing and less harsh on the eyes than artificial light.

Fall and winter darkness does not have to send a person into the doldrums if he or she embraces the right attitude.

Throw a hauntingly good Halloween party

Halloween is a special day that delights children of all ages and helps adults feel like kids at heart. Few people want the fun to end once trick-or-treating is over. By throwing a Halloween party, revelers can continue celebrating well into the evening.
When hosting a Halloween party, it helps to determine who will be in attendance before making any plans. Parties that include children should be PG in nature, and hosts should find the right balance between scary and fun. While you want to have a certain measure of the macabre, make sure you don’t send young guests home with nightmares. Reserve gruesome decorations and details for adult-only parties. 

Halloween parties do not necessarily need to be ghoulish to be fun. Try a glittery gala masquerade party or decorate exclusively in orange and black. Classically eerie parties may feature ravens and crows, or they can be subtlety spooky with red candles and heavy curtains.
Many people can’t wait to dress up for a Halloween party, even picking  out their costumes months in advance. Still, not everyone feels comfortable donning a costume. To welcome all guests, don’t make costumes mandatory. One way around this is to set up a Halloween Disguise Table full of accessories that anyone can borrow and use to alter their appearance. Goofy glasses, strange hats, adhesive mustaches, or masks can be fun. If someone didn’t feel comfortable dressing in full costume, he or she may be more apt to pop in a set of plastic fangs or put on a spinning bow tie.

Food is an integral part of any party and can enhance Halloween soirées. Candy is a pivotal component of Halloween and you can play off that theme at your party. Set up a candy bar full of appropriately hued candies of all shapes and sizes. Put them on display in clear glass or plastic canisters so they add to your Halloween décor.
Some people like to get creative with Halloween cuisine, crafting foods into items that may look like parts of the body or other symbols of the holiday. Cookie cutters can turn sandwiches, desserts, biscuits, and many other foods into different shapes. However, foods also can be made a tad more spooky simply by renaming them or presenting them in interesting containers. Why not serve punch out of a fish aquarium? Other beverages can be housed in jugs or old bottles and labeled “potions.” Use laboratory instruments, such as petri dishes, vials and beakers, to serve snacks. 

A Halloween party makes for a fun night, and there is no limit to what hosts can do when planning their scary soirées.