October is a hallelujah! reverberating in my body year-round…. – John Nichols (b.1940), The Last Beautiful Days of Autumn

September is dressing herself in showy dahlias and splendid marigolds and starry zinnias. October, the extravagant sister, has ordered an immense amount of the most gorgeous forest tapestry for her grand reception. – Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894), “Autumn,” The Atlantic Almanac, 1868

But in October what a feast to the eye our woods and groves present! The whole body of the air seems enriched by their calm, slow radiance. They are giving back the light they have been absorbing from the sun all summer. – John Burroughs (1837–1921), “The Falling Leaves,” Under the Maples

October sunshine bathed the park with such a melting light that it had the dimmed impressive look of a landscape by an old master. Leaves, one, two at a time, sidled down through the windless air. – Elizabeth Enright, “Apple Seed and Apple Thorn,” 1953