I enjoy the change in seasons, and fully embrace the shifts in weather on a semi-reliable timetable. Unlike places such as Southern California, where it changes ever so slightly, and no one really notices. I’ve been in LA when it gets slightly cooler for a few days and the locals all break out their parkas, while the tourists walk around in shorts and flip flops, but those same coats will be back in the closet by the end of the weekend. Here in New Jersey, in the Northeast region of America, we get all four seasons, and properly so. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn. You know what season you’re in, and there’s no mistaking it, except when you find yourself in between.
It is the premature anticipation of the next season that seems to frustrate us so. Each season lasts for as long as its going to last, but the transition period is elusive and unpredictable, and this causes us grief. We rarely celebrate a long season, no matter which one it is. By the end of it, we’re typically ready to move on. What we usually want is a relatively fast transition, but not too fast. No one wants to go from snow to blazing hot, but we want to feel like we’re transitioning. We don’t want to feel stuck.
Spring is easily the most annoying, because no one really enjoys spring, regardless of what they say. Those who like Spring do so because it heralds Summer. We are sick of Winter and want Summer, but Spring is what we get. It’s better than more snow, I suppose.
Spring is a rainy slog towards better weather, whereas Autumn feels different. Autumn is fleeting because a warm fall day is just a glorious Indian Summer day. The entire season is a transition, but the weather is considerably better, which is maybe why we enjoy it more.
Spring is exciting because it’s anticipatory, but it’s not fun weather. It feels more like a slightly less cold, wet Winter, which is the worst of all combos. Spring has hope, so it’s got that going for it. It is not pleasant on its own, but only as a harbinger of Summer. Autumn is diffferent. I don’t know what it is about it, but I get very excited about its approach and revel in its many eccentricities. It represents death and decay and the coming of Winter, but I love it so much, and I’m not alone. It is its own thing.
Autumn is far and away the favorite season of the overwhelming plurality of people. In polling, 40% of respondents claim to love the Fall season above all others, with just 28% preferring Summer, 22% voting for Spring, and a paltry 10% rooting for Winter. I feel a bit ambivalent towards Summer and Winter, as they both seem like the inevitable binary seasons of life on earth, warm and cold. I enjoy them both, but am usually ready to see them leave when their time is up.
I suspect that much of my emotional resonance for Autumn is the result of nostalgia for past Autumns, but I don’t see why this one season should hold so much gravitas over the others. Is it back to school? Halloween and Thanksgiving? Pumpkin spice? I’m not that enamored by the colored leaves, though I do enjoy them. Truly, I think it’s all sense memory and clean weather. There’s nothing oppressive about fall. It’s all very inviting.
Autumn is crisp but not cold, with low humidity and clear blue skies. The sun begins to lower its arc across the sky and the light dances in a golden shimmer. Nature puts on a little show that is the polar opposite of its explosion of chartreuse in the Spring. We go from bright white, green, and yellow, to a more subdued red, orange, and mustard. There is woodsmoke in the air from a distant fireplace. The Mockingbirds stop their mocking and the Canadian geese begin to pass overhead, honking in formation.
It’s been hovering around 90ºF here lately, so summer is holding on for the moment, but by next week, the nights are supposed to drop into the sixties. Not sure they’ll stay there, but hopefully they do. September is in no way cool, but it usually feels like someone turned off the furnace. We’ll still have days in the 80s, but usually the lower end, and the nights become cooler, and the humidity drops. This is historically true, but with climate change, it’s anyone’s guess.
I’m aware that a lot of places in the world have been experiencing some pretty extreme weather, but we really haven’t here in South Jersey. We had a really deep freeze last winter and more snow than usual, but the summer has been rather mild, if a little dry. It’s all been rather pleasant. It gives me a false sense of security that things might not be all that bad—until hurricane season, that is.
My favorite thing is when it gets cool enough that you have to change your wardrobe. Sunny and in the 50s, with no wind. I break out the jeans and boots, and maybe a scarf and hat. You don’t even need a jacket. Then you travel to some country fair or farmer’s market where you can walk around and enjoy the festivities, get a cup of hot coffee, and maybe a fresh muffin. You take bike rides and go for walks in the woods. I feel the same way when summer finally arrives and you put away your boots and scarves and pull out your shorts and flip flops, trade in your wool for linen, chapstick for sunscreen.
Autumn is a lovely outdoorsy season where you aren’t sweating or freezing your ass off, and it’s the driest season of the year, with predictably good weather and low humidity. Spring and Fall are when we tend to spend the most time on our back deck, but spring can be buggy, and far more muggy. Having a fire in a kettle on a cool Fall day, while enjoying the warm sunshine, is a glorious combination of sensory delights, and one that I look forward to every year.
Back when I smoked, we used to spend a lot more time outside, even when it was cold. There were many more backyard fires, as we would sit around the fire wrapped in blankets, long into the night. Once we quit smoking, which has been many moons now, we came inside much earlier. You’re usually either battling mosquitoes or the cold, and it becomes a chore. Easier to retreat to the indoors.
It would appear that the dog days of summer are behind us now, and while it’s still warm during the day, we’re starting to see cooler nights and lovely mornings. It’s a subtle change but no less significant as a seasonal marker. There are only so many of these days before we are forced indoors by the cold, so I do my best to cherish them.
This is the treat that happens twice a year, and that is when the temperature and humidity are perfectly aligned and you open all the windows in the house, and let the fresh air flow through. Yesterday was one of those days, with a glorious morning. We turned off the AC, and opened the windows. What I really enjoy about this, is being able to be inside, but with a nice summer breeze blowing through the house. It’s the best of both worlds. Fresh air but no bugs. When it gets cold enough, but not too cold, I will sometimes light a fire in the fireplace and open all the windows, letting the elements fight it out.
Today is warm and humid again, but it looks like this week we will be fluctuating between the low 60s at night and the low 70s during the day. I’m pretty excited about it, and I don’t mind saying so. It just never gets old.
This is the wonder of life. Appreciating the little things. We’re only here for a blink of an eye, so soaking in the good stuff is really the point. If you didn’t have days that were hot and humid, why would you ever appreciate the days that were cool and dry? We need the good with the bad, or better yet, we must learn to recognize that there are no bad days, just variations on a theme, though I do have a particular fondness for the variation we are currently approaching.
I do like my seasons.