Ah, fall. It’s a season of change. And yet, with change still come those familiar things we look forward to every late September and early October. Here are a few of our favorite fall things.

Pumpkins

Pumpkin picking. For many, it has become a family tradition to trudge out to the middle of a farm field and carefully inspect the orange orbs that dot the landscape, searching for the perfect pumpkin to sit on the front porch or to carve. There are many farms in northeast Indiana that offer pumpkin picking. Maybe you have a favorite. If you don’t, the website www.pumpkinpatchesandmore.org/INpnorth.php can provide a starting guide, offering locations county by county. Just make sure you call first or visit the farm’s website to make sure it is still in operation. The site is updated, but not regularly.

Ice cream

Yes, we know ice cream is a summer thing. But this, my friends, is a special ice cream trip. It’s the last visit to Zesto’s before it is boarded up and closed, not to reopen until spring. The Broadway location is the oldest of the Fort Wayne stores, and once it closes Oct. 16, know that winter is not far behind.

Caramel

DeBrand’s has created a sea salt caramel collection available in four varieties: milk chocolate sea salt caramels, dark chocolate sea salt caramels, pecan caramels with sea salt and buttery caramels with sea salt. The caramels are $10.50 each at the chocolatier’s three locations, Auburn Road, Coldwater Road and Jefferson Pointe.

Corn mazes

Hey, with all this corn around here, we’ve got to make good with it. Cornfields are just perfect for corn mazes. Amazing Fall Family Fun (www.amazingfallfun.com) is a 10-acre corn maze at 3150 County Road 43 in Waterloo. It’s open 4 to 10 p.m. Fridays, noon to 10 p.m. Saturdays and 1 to 6 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 31. It also offers hayrides and a pumpkin patch.

Scary and not-so-scary stuff

•There’s no shortage of haunted houses in the area. You can find your scare level by checking out Friday’s Weekender section of The Journal Gazette.

•Fright Night. The annual event on Oct. 22 in downtown Fort Wayne offers the zombie walk, tours of the bowels of the Embassy Theatre and the showing of the “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Check out www.downtownfortwayne.com for details.

•Bone up on your ghost stories. Join the Indiana Ghost Trackers Fort Wayne Chapter and follow the group on their explorations of haunted locations in the area. For more ghost stories, visit www.ftwayneindianaghosttrackers.com and click on “ghost stories.”

•Wild Zoo Halloween. There’s just something neat about walking in the dark through the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, getting to see some of the animals at night. The zoo will be closed for the season, but kids and parents can wander a marked trail dressed in costumes and receive candy at certain spots. This annual family event starts Oct. 14 and goes through Oct. 31. Admission is $4 adults and $8 children.

Fall foliage

•Take a drive. We recommend the Spencerville area. Take Indiana 1 north out of Fort Wayne. Wave to the covered bridge that will pop up just before you get to downtown Spencerville. Then, again before you get to downtown, hang a right on County Road 68, right by the big red barn. The roads will turn to gravel, but the trees will turn to beauty.

•Fall foliage color tour. The color peak is from the end of September through mid-October in Elkhart County. The county’s Heritage Trail takes you through some picturesque countryside.

•Jump in a pile of leaves. Make your kids wait until Mom and Dad go first. You know, just to make sure it’s safe.

Get outdoors

•Get your run on. Feel the leaves crunch beneath your feet as you navigate the scenic course of the River City Rat Race at 2 p.m. Oct. 23. www.rivercityratrace.com

•Enjoy the crisp air. The Parkview Family YMCA has a beautiful 1 3/5 -mile outdoor track. While a portion does bump up against Dupont Road, a much larger portion winds through Salomon Farm Park. If that’s not good, check out the Rivergreenway that snakes throughout Allen County.

•Take a hike. Join Allen County Trailblazers (www.allencountytrailblazers.org) and hike through 15 area parks and nature preserves.

Go riding

Take a horseback ride through Pokagon State Park in Angola and enjoy the changing of the leaves. Rides are $22 a person on Saturdays and Sundays and are usually available until the beginning of November, depending on the weather.

Apples

•Pick your own apples. You can do that at Cook’s Orchard, 8724 Huguenard Road in Fort Wayne, 489-3940; or at Advanced Tree Technology, 12818 Edgerton Road in New Haven, 749-0891.

•Make an apple crisp. Here’s an easy recipe for those apples you pick that can be eaten while watching a rented movie under a blanket.

8 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced thin

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1/4 cup oats

1/2 cup butter

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream sugar and butter. Mix in flour, cinnamon and oats. Place apple slices in 8- or 9-inch glass pie. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high, if desired. Remove plastic wrap, sprinkle with flour mixture, pat a little. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes.

– Recipe from Cooks.com

Cartoon specials

Who can forget the Great Pumpkin and Charlie Brown? An annual favorite for both children and adults, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” TV special evokes fall. Check for its showing in The Journal Gazette’s daily TV grid and Sunday’s TV Journal.

Mums

Put a few of these fall beauties around your home for an autumn makeover. They can be found pretty much at any local nursery or gardening store.

Fall fashion

It’s that time for knee-high boots, chunky knit sweaters and scarves, such as printed pashminas. Not only will they take the place of a bulkier outdoor scarf, but because it’s lightweight, you can still keep it on when you ditch that bulky coat. Or, buy a cozy, locally made hat or scarf at the Firefly Coffee House boutique, 3523 N. Anthony Blvd.

Autumn smells

•Switch up the scents in your home. Covington Creek Candle Co. is based out of Fort Wayne, and its list of scents is impressive. Try spicy scents like sandalwood and amber, apple harvest, Grandma’s Pumpkin Log and Victorian Christmas (an evergreen fragrance) to evoke fall. www.etsy.com/shop/CovingtonCreekCandle•Add a drop or two of sandalwood oil to a candle. The Three Rivers Co-op, 6344 Sherman St., and The Health Food Shoppe, 3515 N. Anthony Blvd., both have a wide array of essential oils, including sandalwood and other autumnal scents.

Football fever

Have a driveway tailgate party. Can’t make it to the Notre Dame game? Watch the game on television, open up the back of the truck and put the grill in the middle of the driveway. Invite your neighbors.

Get artsy

Visit “In the Little Room,” by William Forsyth, part of the permanent collection at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art. In the painting, a woman thoughtfully looks out a window at the late autumn trees. Maybe she’s thinking about her Christmas list.