Some years the maple colors are spectacular. Although the trigger for
change is the fading autumnal light, the color intensity has to do with
rainfall over the summer, the concentration of sugars in the leaves, the
temperature drop, and the die-off rate of the plastids containing the
chlorophyll, xanthrophyll and anthocyanin. It's the anthocyanin that makes
them red and they only look like this if everything is just right.
Last year these same trees were a shimmering golden yellow.

Every Spring, my neighbor Jay taps these trees and gives me
a jug or two of some of the best maple syrup on the planet.