October is the fallen leaf, but it is also a wider horizon more clearly seen. It is the distant hills once more in sight, and the enduring constellations above them once again. – Hal Borland (1900–1978)

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

An October sort of city even in spring. – Nelson Algren, Chicago: City on the Make, 1951

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