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Foliage: It's peak experience time

Leaves aflame, brilliant sunsets, full moon; doesn’t get much better around here.

We can say with about 100 percent confidence that if you live anywhere near trees, you can expect a significant midweek leaf storm.

But for foliage connoisseurs, the next few days should be magnificent, and even with leaf-removing winds and rain due Wednesday and Wednesday night, the show should persist through the weekend.

As a bonus, the moon will be full Tuesday night, and few things exploit that silvery light more beautifully than the colored leaves.

And while this isn't necessarily good news for homebound commuters, the next two sunsets should be beauties, with oblique rays electrifying high clouds and casting golden glows on the trees.

The foliage show has been a bit behind schedule, with peak colors as far north as Connecticut reported just this weekend.

Marc Abrams, a foliage expert at Penn State, says the show up Happy Valley way was seven to nine days behind schedule, but "we had very good color that lasted a long time."

One of our favorite observers, Kathie Cote, owner of Polly's Pancakes in Sugar Hill, N.H., where it is all over but the raking, sent us a glowing post-season summer.

She said that while the season took hold about a week later than usual, "It was the most spectacular season in a long time," she wrote last week. "WOW, just spectacular."

The lateness obviously was related to the very mild September up there. New Hampshire's temperatures were about 6 degrees above normal last month; very similar to temperatures around here.

Whatever the reason, we'll take what we have the next few days anytime. Inevitably, the trees will be bare, all the better to see the autumnal light.