Be forewarned – this post has nothing to do with marketing (my usual topic). It has to do with the weather. Don’t worry, I’m not going to try my hand at meteorology. Instead, this is my endorsement of autumn as the greatest of the four seasons. Here’s why fall rules them all:
(1) Sleeping with the window open. In the summer, even when it’s nice enough to open the bedroom window, we get the occasional sound of the central air unit going off, which sounds roughly like a helicopter taking off at 3am from my roof.
(2) Less mowing. OK, you do have to deal with leaves, but at least I can stop worrying about my lawn. To me, nothing says “slacker” like long grass, and that belief / OCD has cost me many a beautiful summer evenings that I’ve spent behind a mower instead of on a hammock.
(3) Goodbye bugs. People who aren’t from North Dakota don’t have a good handle on the massive number of mosquitos in this part of the world. Plus, anyone who’s ever tried to have a late summer picnic in the Midwest can tell you about sharing their meal with yellow jackets. They’re the entomological version of that overly drunk guy at the party: they just won’t leave you alone. They get in your drink, in your hot dog bun, in your chips and if you’re not careful, in your mouth. One good autumn frost and most insects pack it in until spring. Hallelujah.
(4) Sports. I admit it: baseball makes me sleepy. There’s just too much pageantry and not enough action for me on the diamond, so I always look forward to football, basketball and even volleyball once the weather gets cooler. Some of my fondest memories as a young man were of football games played where we could see our breath thanks to the cool fall air (a phenomenon that also helped when the coach had to inevitably confirm that I was still alive after getting wiped out on a kickoff return).
(5) The smell. I’m not exactly sure what smells different about autumn, but I can always tell the very first day that the weather starts to turn. It absolutely energizes me. I am just not an 85 degrees and humid kind of guy. I am a 50 degrees and a light jacket kind of guy, and I swear to you that I can smell the difference. Ironically, it could be the subtle scent of decomposing leaves, but to me, autumns smells like life.
(6) The colors. I’m not sure I could live in an area where trees don’t change color in the fall. It would be like only having one channel on your tv. I am a sucker for the explosion of reds, oranges, yellows and browns that paint this part of the world every September. There’s a reason that every director of photography in Hollywood has mastered the “falling leaves” shot. It’s like an injection of pure visual nostalgia.
Sorry if you love summer best and this blog post reminds you that your favorite season is almost over. Give fall a chance, and you may love it as much as I do. Either way, soon enough we’ll all be complaining about winter together.
