Fall: A Love Affair

If I just say I love Fall, I don't think I'll be fully understood. Something clicks for me at this time of year. My soul feels lighter. It' difficult to explain.

The cool, crisp weather. Macintosh apples. Pumpkin bread. Cinnamon. Leaves exploding in violent shades of red, yellow and orange. Something about it makes me feel like I can exhale.

It should go without saying that I hate summer. I'm miserable during summer. I hate not being able to walk from a parking lot to my destination without developing beads of sweat on my forehead. I hate the feeling of my clothes and hair sticking to my skin in the heat and humidity. I hate feeling stifled and uncomfortable. Everything I love feels like a chore in the summer: baking, cooking, hot coffee, driving with the windows down, hot showers, heavy and cozy blankets. All abandoned because they would only increase the heat that is already weighing me down, evaporating the life right out of me.

But in Fall, I get my life back. Going outside is a pleasure instead of something to be dreaded. I want to take a walk, open all the windows, make some hearty soup, snuggle under the covers. As soon as the weather changes, I can breathe again. I'm more fully myself in the Fall. I'm happier. Ecstatic even. I look forward to walking outside in the morning and having that cool air envelop me. It makes me smile. And that's hard to do before 10:00 am.

Fall is one of the reasons I love living in the Northeast. When I go back home for Christmas and it's 70 degrees, something just doesn't feel right. I don't feel right. I need the cold. I like that it gets dark earlier, I like that pajamas and thick socks have never been so comfortable, I like that the weather outside makes you crave a snuggle, I like that sweating is optional.

In case you were wondering, in October, I'm really, really happy. Like now would be a good time to ask me for a favor kind of happy. Like all is right with the world kind of happy. Like so happy that I'm really looking forward to snow and currently think I won't mind at all getting up a half hour early because I need to dig out my car. That's a whole lot of happy.