AUTUMN MAKES ITS ARRIVAL TODAY

The signs are unmistakable. The sun rises a little later each morning and sets earlier each evening. Increasing numbers of wooly bears are seen wiggling their way across the roadways and ground. Withered and dry cornstalks in the fields are ready for the harvest.

In the woods, a few leaves are already beginning to exchange their dark greens for faint hues of red and orange. There's no doubt that fall is near.

According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, the autumnal equinox occurs today at 7:22 p.m. CDT. At that time the sun will appear to be directly over Earth's equator as it moves into the Southern Hemisphere, where today is the first day of spring.

As every science student knows, the sun doesn't really move at all. The tilt of the Earth as it spins on its axis every 24 hours changes as the Earth revolves in orbit around the sun, making it seem as if the sun is higher or lower in the southern sky throughout the year.

It's called the autumnal equinox because for a few days before and after the event, the number of hours of daylight and darkness will be nearly equal at 12 hours each. The same thing occurs during the spring equinox in March.

As if to kick off the fall season, the full harvest moon occurs this year on Sept. 30. It's called the harvest moon because the full moon rises earlier in the evening at this time of the year, and provided light for the farmers of yore to work far into the night harvesting their crops.

Thanks to the plentiful precipitation this year, experts say chances of a colorful fall are better than normal.

Rick Kammler, assistant district forester with the Missouri Conservation Department's Perryville district office, said: "We've had adequate amounts of moisture most of the year in the woods and forests. We have as good a chance of a bright, colorful fall as we've had in a long time, primarily because the trees have not been under a lot of stress from heat and drought."

Charles Korns, horticulturist with the Agriculture Department at Southeast Missouri State University, said some trees in the region are already starting to turn.

"If we continue to have the kind of weather we've had so far bright, warm, sunny days and clear, cool nights it will really start the coloring process" said Korns.

"I noticed on the way back to Cape Girardeau last weekend that some sassafras is beginning to color up."

Korns said the hardwood forests in the eastern Ozarks are the first in Southeast Missouri to turn, beginning late this month and in early October. "That's because they're farther north of us, and at a higher elevation.

The peak season for fall color around Cape Girardeau traditionally is from mid-to-late October, Korns said. "If you take a tour up toward Fredericktown and out to Ironton-Arcadia and Piedmont toward the end of this month or in early October, you'll get a preview of what's coming here later in the month."

Korns said trees in the city always turn colors later than those in the woods and forests because of the town's natural heat.

Trees that traditionally produce the brightest colors in the woods and forest are the dogwood, (red) hickory, (yellow) sugar maple, (orange) red maple, (scarlet) pin oak and scarlet oak, (bronze) and the sweet gum, which produces a riot of bright reds, purples and yellows.

Besides the trees, Korns said the burning shrubs usually live up to their names at this time of year as they begin to turn brilliant red in lawns and gardens.

Korns cautioned that poison ivy and poison oak, which produce bright red and orange colors during the fall, are just as potent now as they were during the spring and summer.

Kammler said his favorite fall color tour starts at the intersection of Highway 61 and Route C north of Fruitland, and goes along Route C through New Wells to Frohna in the east Perry County hill country.

"Trail of Tears State Park is also a great place to view the fall colors because of the different varieties of hardwoods and smaller trees," he added.

Another excellent fall color tour during October is a drive from Cape Girardeau to Fredericktown, then west to Ironton-Arcadia, south to Piedmont and east on Highway 34 to Marble Hill, then back to Cape Girardeau. The tour includes parts of the Mark Twain National Forest.

Across the Mississippi River in Union and Alexander counties is another source of fall color, the Shawnee National Forest. Of particular interest is a drive along the ridge of the Pine Hills-LaRue Ecological Wildlife Area between Wolf Lake and the Big Muddy River. The ridge road winds its way through steep hills ablaze with color by mid-October. At several locations along the road, stops provide spectacular views of the Mississippi River Valley.

The Murphysboro Ranger Station in the Shawnee National Forest has a fall color tour guide that gives directions for a number of forest tours on the west and east sides of the state. For more information about the tour guide, call the office at 1-618-687-1713 or stop by the U.S. Forest Service office on Route 149 at the west edge of the city.