> I'm in total agreement that New England is beautiful in the fall, not to mention the rest of the year. But if you don't live there, you can see similar color in the hardwood forests that extend from there all the way south to northern Georgia.

I lived in Virginia for several years, and I found that to be a beautiful state. My favorite season there was spring -- there are so many flowering trees that New England doesn't have, so in the spring it not only looks nice but smells nice too.

But I never found autumn there to be all that wonderful. The south is missing two things: maple trees and evergreens. Well, they've got evergreens, but not in such abundance. It seems strange to want "green" in autumn, when you get that color year-round, but there is just something about a mountain side greens mixed in with the warm colors. But it's the maple trees that are missed most. Maple trees turn BRIGHT red. The south has oranges and yellows but not much in the way of red.

The other thing the north gives you is the brilliance of the colors. The best fall colors come out when you get a really deep overnight frost. Further south, even though you still get oranges and yellows, I don't find the shades of oranges and yellows to be as bright or impressive.

Ideally, I'd have about three different houses that I'd live different parts of the year in. Autumn and winter, way up in the White Mountains. Spring, down south. Summer, in New Zealand where it's winter there.

S "does not like hot" am