The reds, golds and burnt oranges of fall dotted the landscape all around Oak Park, River Forest and Chicago in grand fashion. A walker is draped in an autumn bath of color as she walks in Lincoln Park. Photo by J. Geil.
The reds, golds and burnt oranges of fall dotted the landscape all around Oak Park, River Forest and Chicago in grand fashion. Photo by J. Geil.
The reds, golds and burnt oranges of fall dotted the landscape all around Oak Park, River Forest and Chicago in grand fashion. Homes on N. Harvey Ave. in Oak Park are surrounded by the vibrant colors of autumn. Photo by J. Geil.
The reds, golds and burnt oranges of fall dotted the landscape all around Oak Park, River Forest and Chicago in grand fashion. This tree in River Forest was holding strong while others around it stood in contrast as the season winds down. Photo by J. Geil.
The reds, golds and burnt oranges of fall dotted the landscape all around Oak Park, River Forest and Chicago in grand fashion. This tree in River Forest was holding strong while others around it stood in contrast as the season winds down. Photo by J. Geil.
The reds, golds and burnt oranges of fall dotted the landscape all around Oak Park, River Forest and Chicago in grand fashion. As an autumn sunset lights up the evening sky, this resident stopped to admire outside Oak Park and River Forest High School. Photo by J. Geil.
The reds, golds and burnt oranges of fall dotted the landscape all around Oak Park, River Forest and Chicago in grand fashion. A vast sea of autumn colors leads from Oak Park to the sprawling skyline of Chicago miles away. Photo by J. Geil.
The reds, golds and burnt oranges of fall dotted the landscape all around Oak Park, River Forest and Chicago in grand fashion. Photo by J. Geil.
The reds, golds and burnt oranges of fall dotted the landscape all around Oak Park, River Forest and Chicago in grand fashion. All those pretty colors mean work for some. Here, a landscaper blows leaves off a lawn in River Forest. Photo by J. Geil.
The reds, golds and burnt oranges of fall dotted the landscape all around Oak Park, River Forest and Chicago in grand fashion. Photo by J. Geil.
The reds, golds and burnt oranges of fall dotted the landscape all around Oak Park, River Forest and Chicago in grand fashion. Demetra Vagias and her Australian cattle dog Lucy walk north on S. Wesley Ave. in Oak Park. Photo by J. Geil.
The reds, golds and burnt oranges of fall dotted the landscape all around Oak Park, River Forest and Chicago in grand fashion. Photo by J. Geil.
The reds, golds and burnt oranges of fall dotted the landscape all around Oak Park, River Forest and Chicago in grand fashion. A vast sea of autumn colors leads from Oak Park to the sprawling skyline of Chicago miles away. Photo by J. Geil.
The reds, golds and burnt oranges of fall dotted the landscape all around Oak Park, River Forest and Chicago in grand fashion. This father and daughter share a hot drink, maybe a flavor to match their flannel, as they stroll through Scoville Park. Photo by J. Geil.
The reds, golds and burnt oranges of fall dotted the landscape all around Oak Park, River Forest and Chicago in grand fashion. Kids race home from school on Oak St. in River Forest. Photo by J. Geil.
Forgive us if we stop and stare just one last time. A final moment to sear into our collective memory what was an autumn for the ages, burst with red, gold, orange and brown.
Each season delivers a special kind of beauty, but none possesses stop-you-in-your-tracks brilliance quite like the glow of fall in Oak Park and River Forest. It’s a time when all things seem to meld sweetly, if ever so briefly. When the crackle underfoot and rhythmic strokes of rakes blend with the chitchat of neighbors preparing for their annual hibernation. “See you next May,” they joke.
Maybe 17th-century poet John Donne penned it perfectly when he wrote, “No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace, as I have seen in one autumnal face.”
Autumn is a landscaper working in the morning chill, and a midday tide of color washing its way to the sprawling big city. It’s the one stubborn tree on your block that proudly holds its leaves while others have long been bare. It’s that peaceful stroll along a yellow leafed road and a sunset so vibrant we pause the daily grind to marvel. We admire because we know it fades as quickly as it came.
