Autumn songs that evoke pleasant memories for me:

- "The Reach," by Dan Fogelberg. He lived on the Maine coast, or was at least a part-time resident, and this song perfectly captured the feeling. I love the changing colors of the leaves in my home state, but there is nothing like the quiet of a fall day on the coast. I know the area he refers to, having been offered a teaching job (which I ultimately declined) in Deer Isle-Stonington, and think of that autumn drive down Route 15 past rocky fields and vivid trees against a clear blue sky whenever I hear it. That job episode happened when I was engaged to my first ex-fiance, serendipitously the same time period during which "The Reach" was released. It also reminds me of a lovely September Saturday I spent sailing in that area with a date whose family had a *compound* (you know, like the Kennedys) there, along with his aunt, uncle and some friends of his.

- "Autumn," (duh) by the Edgar Winter Group or whatever his band was called. It's on "They Only Come Out at Night." OK, this is a bit of a cheat, 'cause the memory is really a summer one of a high-school boyfriend -- one that I now believe I let go of too soon -- and of a particular summer dance at his high school's parking lot where we slow-danced to it. I came to think of it as "our" song for our short-lived courtship, and sadly, I can't even think now of how it goes. I'll have to see if I can find it online. He was a nice guy, that boyfriend -- much nicer than the other high-school boyfriend I later squandered so much energy and self-esteem on, and he was truly sad when I broke up with him. I'm sad now because I can't really remember how I rationalized the decision to give him his ring back, and wish I hadn't cut the relationship short. He's the only guy I've ever regretted initiating a breakup with.

- "Weekend in New England," Barry Manilow. Yes, I'll say it -- I like Barry Manilow. I own five or six of his albums, although I'll allow that I bought all of them back in the day, and I would be unlikely to spend the money on them today. But his music always spoke to me, and this song made me realize that I grew up in a special part of the world.

OK, so far just three. Hmmmm... Guess I'll also throw in

- "November Rain" by Guns'n'Roses, but it's a borrowed memory, not my own. It's the song to which one of my friends and her then-future husband fell in love. For me, though, it evokes memories of capping the work week at UMaine with drinks at Margarita's in Orono with the office gang.

I just reminded myself of another one,

- "September," by Earth, Wind & Fire. The specific memory is of fall sorority rush during college. One year it seemed like that song was as ubiquitous a theme for rush events as "Pieces of April" had been for high school proms.