I’ve commented before that mountain people tend to hang onto old traditions, many deeply rooted in European (especially Scots-Irish), African, and even Native American ancestry. With the Halloween season approaching I thought I’d cover some paranormal-ish superstitions that I learned through my family or heard locally. I’m betting you’ve heard at least one or two yourself.

This time of year you usually see news articles explaining why leaves change color and how good the fall colors will be. I’ve written plenty of them myself, but never covered the subject of why tree leaves fall off in the first place. So here goes…

By: Steve Roark
Volunteer, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

Indian summer is a name that brings thoughts of balmy, hazy fall days and cool nights. It is a description of weather conditions rather than an actual season, for no dates exist for it. The closest time frame I could find was from Henry David Thoreau, who noted in his diary that Indian summer occurs from September 27 to December 13.

The white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) is probably the favorite game species in our area, and spotting one always gives me a small touch of “wildness”. They have a complex and intriguing lifestyle.

Fall is a great time to plant trees, as it allows the tree roots to settle in and get established during the dormant season, making it better prepared for the Spring growth spurt and summer heat. You can plant even in early winter as long as the soil is not frozen. Here are some tree planting guidelines:

While hiking in the woods you may stumble across a tree with a gnarly, wartlike bulge growing on the trunk or upper branch. These are called burls, and while not particularly pretty on the outside, the inner grain is gorgeous for woodworkers to create some beautiful work.

You have no doubt enjoyed trees displaying a red canopy during the fall color blitz, which are likely as not red maples. The tree comes by its name honest, as there’s something red about it all year long. In spring they bloom red flowers, in early summer you’ll see the red of ripening seeds, and all summer long the leaf stem will show red. Come autumn, much of the brilliant reds in the mountains are from red maples. In winter the end twigs and buds are also red.

While springtime is noted for wildflowers, late summer and autumn also offer an impressive burst of color, when some plants make a last push to propagate before the killing frosts. Asters are particularly easy to find blooming now, and come in shades of yellow, white, and purple/blue.

Summer weather always generates an interest in fishing, and over the ages there has been a lot of weather lore about when is a good time to go bait a line One example is that wind direction supposedly affects how well fish bite. Wind out of the west and south are supposedly good for fishing, while winds out of the north and east are not. There has been some research on this one, and so far there is no scientific backing for this method.

The way a turtle is put together is pretty much the reverse of ours. I mean look at it: we have soft body parts protecting a hard-inner skeleton. Turtles have a hard-outer skeleton protecting inner soft body parts. The most common turtle you'll run into around here (and one you probably aggravated when you were a kid) is the eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina).