Fall most beautiful time of year

The lakes were still. The leaves of the trees were silent.
The leaves were turning from red to orange to golden yellow. Silhouetted against the greens of the shores, the multi-coloured trees were awesome.
The reflected images from the shores were mirrored in the water.
Fall may be the most beautiful time of the year and this past weekend may have been the most colourful in decades.
My wife and I travelled back and forth to Thunder Bay on the weekend. We were spellbound by the beauty of the poplars, maples, birch, and ash that adorn both sides of the highway.
In spring, the bright green leaves herald the beginning of a new growth year. Now we are enjoying the fruits of it.
I now know that the colours exist all the time in the leaves, but the green becomes stronger—drowning out the vibrant colours that we see in the fall.
As we rounded curve after curve, each new sight was more spectacular than the last. The four-hour trip each way ended too soon each day.
Seldom do we ever see the lakes so still. Each isolated red maple paint brush stood out against the yellow and orange leaves, and the complete mirror reflection of the trees in the water doubled the impact of the sight.
I remember a painting by Carmichael that captured the stillness of the water and rocks in blues and purples and greens and pinks.
I wondered how the “Group of Seven” Canadian painters would have painted the scenes along Highway 11. Would someone focus on a lone maple tree as AY Jackson did in his 1914 Red Maple?
Would artists choose to paint the golden colours of our forests, as did Franklin Carmichael?
Perhaps J.E.H. MacDonald, entitled “Autumn Algoma” in 1918, did the painting that I would hope might be painted today.
The “Group of Seven” captured the magnificence of our outdoors. We still can enjoy the golden, lively colours of our autumns and tourists annually spend thousands to travel our highways to experience our fall colours.
Hopefully, the colours and leaves will hold through Thanksgiving weekend.