It’s the first day of winter. It is getting warmer on the Chesapeake anyway.

About a month back, I spotted my neighbor Tim Hamilton working after dark in his yard. He was wearing a headlamp to see, and the sight of a man raking leaves under a powerful spotlight was unusual. Turns out his trees had dropped their cover two weeks ahead of schedule. “The leaves in this area may vary in intensity of autumnal colors, but they fall like clockwork,” said Tim, who keeps a precise garden journal.