BackBlog

20 Oct 2015

Color Me Fall On Nantucket

Photo courtesy of Nantucket Artist Christopher Wheat
 ….
In his beautiful and poignant bestseller, “All The Light We Cannot See,” author Anthony Doerr paints a word picture for his readers of the magical colors of the sea and its surroundings. “It contains so many colors,” Doerr writes. “Silver at dawn, green at noon, dark blue in the evening. Sometimes it looks almost red. Or it will turn the color of old coins…white strings of gulls drag over it like beads. It is my favorite thing, I think, that I have ever seen. Sometimes I catch myself staring at it and forget my duties.”
 ….
As I found myself captivated by the pages of his book, I had to wonder if Anthony Doerr had visited Nantucket in the fall. The colors on our island are beautiful all year long, but there’s something about this season – the fall season – that makes the Grey Lady glisten with a vibrancy of warm palette hues. From the burnt orange across the moors, to the deep yellow along the ponds, to the emerald green of the multiple golf courses – the island is literally awash in color. All of it perfectly sandwiched between a sky and sea that are such a stunning azure blue that some days it literally takes your breath away.
 ….
There is perhaps no color (or fruit for that matter!) more popular on Nantucket in the fall than Cranberry. The local bogs truly “runneth over” with thousands of the delectable little gems. The Nantucket Conservation Foundation celebrated the harvest in style with its annual Cranberry Festival last weekend. There was live music, bog tours and hayrides, a delicious lunch by B-ACK Yard BBQ and of course ample attention given to the little round guests of honor with cranberry harvesting and featured cranberry products ranging from jams to chocolate covered deliciousness.
 ….
Nantucket consistently loves a good party…but these events where the island gathers together to celebrate both the beauty of the island and its natural resources always seems to hold extra meaning. It reminds all of us how lucky we are to live in a place that is saturated in so much natural grandeur – the kind that as the author Doerr described as “seeming big enough to contain everything anyone could ever feel.”
 ….
Fall is in full swing on Nantucket and it’s a great time to take in any of the upcoming festivals or scheduled events. It’s also a great time to just get outside and explore every corner of the island before she sheds her color splashed cover and settles in for the long winter. Join a bike tour along Polpis bike path, hike to Alter Rock or bring your scallop or clam rakes and wade into the harbor to enjoy the view from the water. No need for rose (or cranberry!) colored glasses on Nantucket right now. The island is…
 ….
Color Full.
 ….
Shellie Dunlap
 
Share:
Related Posts
  • 25 Oct 2011 Nantucket Indian Summer Nantucket is stretching its arms exhaling a slow steady breath and preparing to kick its feet up after a jam-packed summer of gracious hospitality. One by one the leaves are turning from green to red orange and yellow. Temperatures are cooling the crowds are thinning and it’s a bit easier finding a place to park.... Continue Reading
  • 25 Sep 2012 The Nantucket County Fair Fall is in the air here on Nantucket. The change in temps brings with it the anticipation of a new season of island festivities. Whaler football games scallop season and the annual Nantucket County Fair. I attended my first ever island fair out in Tom Nevers last weekend. I was reminded what the country group... Continue Reading