Here are some great things about life at camp during the fall - in addition, of course, to the beauty of the foliage.

- No bugs. It is so great to walk through the woods, or sit on the river bank without the threat of airborne assault. Chiggers, black flies and mosquitoes are fierce in the spring and summer, not that this is news to anyone . . .

- When the leaves come down, the woods has a different look. Each season brings a new perspective to the forest, of course, but now it is intriguing to peer deep in the woods that only weeks before was thick with growth.

- The skies seem so bright. Perhaps you could say this of any month, but the sky lights up on clear evenings in October. My camp is off Route 134 (Cape Cod Hill Road) in New Sharon in Franklin County, and a nearby mile-long ridge provides views of the stars and the Sandy River Valley below. It has been a thrill to gaze at the sky in recent weeks.

- The river is wild and unpredictable. In early October, the low level of the then-placid Sandy River enabled me to put in the canoe near a creek bed that runs into the river. But recent rains have pushed the river almost eight feet higher, and now the Sandy is roaring like the Colorado (not really, but you get the idea). My canoe was almost taken by the rising river two weeks ago, but the craft has been brought to higher ground and the bow is secured to a tree.

- As October gives way to the deer-hunting season of November, I plan to hang out at the local Farm Store where they weigh and register deer. Last fall they counted 180 deer, about half bucks and half does. And there was one bear. I want to learn more about where the bear are hiding . . .

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