Fall colors are peaking in central and eastern Maine, and that’s only part of what this wonderful season holds for us. The state forester’s office says that plentiful leaves on the hardwood trees are making this the best season in five years, even though a warm September delayed the peak by a week or more.

The leaf spectacle alone would be enough for the celebration of fall. The fire-engine red of the maples and sumac bushes and the yellow and orange of the ash and birch trees make a glorious exhibition against the dark green of the pine and spruce trees. Fortunately, the stiff northwest wind of last weekend came too early to whip the colored leaves off the trees. Another approaching storm could blow them away, but with luck it will deliver only a glancing blow and we can have a fine colorful weekend.

Never mind the increased road traffic if we can join the returned summer visitors as they cruise through the forests to admire the foliage. Incidentally, you might try to think of a good substitute for the overly cute and tiresome term “leaf peepers.” They appreciate Maine’s fall beauty and give the state’s economy a lift as well.

We can enjoy, besides the foliage, the crack of a fresh ripe Maine apple, say, a Paula or a Macintosh. They are crisp and juicy and a bit tart, unlike the mealy cold-storage apples available the rest of the year.

And if we take a look at the pale blue sky on a clear day we may see a flight of ducks or geese migrating south for the winter. They fly in a V-formation, with a strong leader at the apex and the others trailing after. They know the right direction by heading away from the only star that stays in place: Polaris, the north pole star. Their fallback navigation system is a speck of magnetite ore in their heads that serves as a compass.

For all its fun and beauty, this high point of fall has one serious flaw. Many of our lovely maple trees have ugly black spots on their leaves. In some areas, the infestation is worse now than last year, with as many as 10 or 15 spots per leaf. In some cases, they make the leaves shrivel and drop off early.

Fortunately, the Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic at Cornell University has studied this “tar spot” disease and prescribes a cure. The fungus survives the winter and produces spores in the spring that are carried by air currents to infect the new leaves next year. Individual home owners can halt the disease by raking up the fallen spotted leaves and burning or composting them. If composted, they must be covered and turned over before new leaves appear in the spring.

Communities would do well to make this a joint project so that next year’s foliage will be unblemished when the performance begins anew.