Fall flips and flops

I’m not a fan of autumn. Mostly, because I know what season comes after it - the loooong one with only a few hours of sunlight, bitter cold temperatures and snow. Oh, the snow.

The older I get, the more I hate the snow.

However, this year, for some odd reason, it was a good autumn.

Temperatures finally dropped.

Kids were - kind of - back in school. (Big hallelujah!)

After being off, some high school sports were back on. (More applause!)

What is it that makes us fond of fall? Walking outside and hearing dead leaves crunch under our feet?

It has to be more than that because we all know what is coming - the aforementioned snow.

We associate and attach certain qualities to our seasons. In the spring, it’s all about rebirth and new beginnings with Easter, spring flowers, budding trees, and greening grass.

We are finally able to crack open our windows and let the fresh air in. After a loooong winter of white, spring opens the doors to color!

There’s a very different vibe in the fall. We enter a period of change. Leaves change colors and fall. They die and become crunchy.

You know where you are with autumn, picturesquely living amid death and decline.

But, there’s still a bond and a beauty to this time of the year. This year, the tree’s changes were spectacular, and the crisp air greets each of us when we step outside.

Summers are all about long, hot days and vacations to places where flip-flops and t-shirts are the uniform of the day. It’s about grill-outs, long days, and birds singing.

Autumn, it seems, helps us to re-center, and brings people back together after the summertime disconnect. We see this at pumpkin patches, apple orchards, Halloween parties, and, hopefully, Thanksgiving - although given how the coronavirus has shattered our social rituals, I’m not holding my breath for that one.

Until then, I’m going to try to enjoy the crisp air of autumn, and let it clear my mind for a few days to renew my soul.

I’ll become a fan, whether I like it or not.