Fall is basically just a nutmeg and cinnamon-spiced metaphor for dying. It trickily tries to deflect our attention by giving us a stunning array of flaming colors in place of summer’s verdant greens. Speaking of which, look at all the pretty leaves that our excellent photographers have captured and put in our Flickr pool! Did you see the cat in nestled among the foliage?!

Where was I? Right. Seasonal affectivity disorder, never knowing how many layers to wear, dusk at 4:48 p.m., the end of ice cream season. Fall can shove it. But I suppose if we must be on the “off-ramp straight into the worst time of your life,” might as well check the weather forecast five times before going outside and enjoying the seasonal show. To that end, the non-profit Casey Trees made a helpful map a few years ago to guide your wanderings.

They’ve color coded it according to five of the types of trees that you will see along the way: red maple, sugar maple, pin oak, American elm, and ginkos (but, small graces, they only stink up the spring.) Make sure you take your leaf blower “history’s greatest monster” along.