The change from summer to fall always reminds me of leaves. Lots and lots of leaves. With more than a dozen huge oak trees in our back yard in Sun Prairie, we always had mountains of leaves to romp through during fall. On windy days, the air in our back yard was filled with falling leaves. Before the days we had to help rake and bag the leaves, we dove into the pile with reckless abandon.

My own children had a similar experience in our first home on the north side of Racine. We had maple and apple trees that left plenty of seasonal detritus across the landscape. I have some precious video (see below) of our oldest, Stevie, running through the leaves at my childhood home in about the year 1995.

Fall always meant trips to the pumpkin farm, huddling around the fire pit on the back deck, picking fresh apples at local orchards, and of course getting the snowblower tuned up and ready for winter. It is a season of change, of color, of transitions. As the years pass, it also becomes a season of reflection and wistfulness.

©2015 The Hanneman Archive

Maple leaves start to turn in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.

Ruby Hanneman at Swan’s Pumpkin Farm in 2004.

Samantha Hanneman at Swan’s Pumpkin Farm in 2004.

A sea of pumpkins outside Borzynski’s Farm Market near Racine.

The beauty of a maple leaf stands in contrast to the still-green grass in Sun Prairie, Wis.