Seasonal Memories & Changing Leaves

Seasonal Memories

By Nick Boulton, SunWest’s Landscaping Whisperer

Growing up in Salt Lake, my family had a cabin up in Big Cottonwood Canyon that my Grandfather and my Dad built when Dad was in his youth. Dealing with winter months, a full time job, and being able to financially afford it, it took them several summers to build it. But because of their great efforts and labors, my siblings and I were able to enjoy this. As a child, we would spend a lot of weekends up there, and sometimes even weeks at a time, and I learned to enjoy the seasons there.

During the winter our car couldn’t make it all the way to the cabin, and we would have to hike through waist deep snow, pulling sleds behind us with all our food and gear. As my Mom and Dad would walk ahead of us, they would make wide, deep footsteps in the snow that we would follow to help us through the deep snow. As we hiked in, it would be easy to spot an occasional moose, elk or deer hanging in the tree line against the white snow. I remember multiple occasions coming up on a bull, or a mother moose and her young calf, and my Dad slowly turning around to tell us not to move for fear that it would charge. At times we would watch and wait for extensive periods for it to move on, and our feet were freezing in the snow. Although sometimes it felt like forever, we learned to enjoy wildlife. Once we settled in we would go sledding, and work for days building snow caves off the side of the cabin.

During the summer we spent a lot of time catching squirrels and chipmunks with a box propped up with a stick and a string tied to it, or fishing for trout in the Big Cottonwood Canyon River. It was in this river that my Dad taught us to fish and appreciate what we have been given.

I learned to love both of these times of year as they built so many memories for me and my siblings, but my favorite time to be up there was during autumn. The leaves would change to beautiful orange, reds, purples, and yellows. At an early age I remember loving this time of year and looking forward

When Nick Boulton joined SunWest Management as our Landscape Coordinator he brought a wealth of knowledge and experience to the team. He is a great resource to have in your back pocket. If you would like help with your yard or have questions about plants, Nick would love to connect with you. You can reach Nick at services@swmlife.com or 435-773-6456.

to all the beautiful colors that the leaves would change to, the crisp cool feeling of the air, and the break from the heat of the summer. My family, unfortunately, no longer owns this cabin, but even today when autumn comes around, it sends floods of memories back to my childhood. Because of this, autumn is still my favorite time of year.

Why Do Leaves Change Colors?

The autumn colors are gorgeous, but have you ever asked yourself why some leaves change colors? The truth is, those colors are actually always there, but just hidden. Throughout spring and summer the deep green color that we see is hiding those colors with a chemical called chlorophyll. This chemical helps absorb sunlight to turn it into food. As shorter days with less sunlight begin to happen, and cooler temperatures set in, the trees break down the green pigments of chlorophyll and nutrients stored in the leaves. This nutrient is then moved to the roots of the tree and stored there until the spring. Then we start to see these amazing colors that have been hidden from our eyes. Here in the Southwest we don’t see the variety seen in the Northeast, but there is still fall beauty to enjoy. As we begin to slowly move into cooler weather and start to see Autumn come about, I hope you enjoy this fall weather and the colors that it brings.