With the arrival of autumn the finest weather of the year begins. For almost three months it will continue, until winter sweeps down out of the north. In early September the days are still warm but the nights have a pleasant coolness. As the season progresses the daytime warmth continues but the nights become cooler and cooler. By October they are crisp and finally there is frost. The mesas flame with the colors of autumn, the distant mountains are cloaked with a bluegray haze and for weeks the people enjoy the brisk invigorating weather of Indian Summer. Late in October, or in November, there may be a quick flurry of snow, a warning of what is to come, but it disappears as quickly as it came. Far into the autumn the warm days last: sometimes the winter storms do not begin until after the sun has started to return from the south. Autumn is the happiest season of the year for the people of the Mesa Verde. It is a season of tremendous activity for now they must reap the rewards for the prayers of springtime and the labors of summer. During the spring they were gay and happy but it was not the full unrestrained happiness of autumn. As the farmers planted their crops last spring they felt a certain helplessness. With each tiny seed they planted a prayer: that was the only aid they could give it. Then they were forced to stand by while the forces of nature; the sun, the rain and the earth, did as they pleased with the precious seeds. Autumn has brought the rewards for their prayers and labors. There is no uncertainty about it. Nature has smiled, the fields have prospered and nothing can rob them of a bountiful harvest. The cooling weather is turning the fields yellow and a period of strenuous activity will soon begin. Every grain of corn, every bean, every squash must be carried down to the cave and stored safely away. The fields are never left unattended. Ravens, crows and jays try to get at the corn in the daytime and deer get into the fields at night unless they are guarded. All through the night bright fires burn in the fields as the men and boys take turns protecting the crops. As they walk about the fields they gloat over the success of their farming efforts. The corn is higher than their heads and heavy ears bend toward the ground. The bean vines are full of fat pods and the fields are dotted with great yellowing squashes. It will be a wonderful harvest; the fields are full of song and laughter as the proud farmers rejoice over their success. Even before the main harvest starts, the products begin to trickle down to the cave. There is an abundance of help for even the children and women join in. Each plant is given individual attention and when an ear of corn, a bean pod or a squash ripens too soon, it is picked and carried home.