All things bright and beautiful

Racine County’s rural roads are ablaze with color, as maples, birches and oaks dazzle passersby with a display of foliage in bright golden, orange and red hues. Scientists say the brilliant colors occur when production of chlorophyll, the green pigment in plants crucial to photosynthesis, slows down as days get shorter and nights grow longer. That exposes yellow, red and orange pigments that are normally hidden from view. (Photo by Tracy Ouellette)