Why Do We Love Autumn?

The First Hint of Autumn

We have been conditioned since we were children that autumn meant back to school, which was exciting for me because I loved school and I also loved purchasing new school supplies. Even to this day, new pencils and a notebook are a real treat for me.  However, it also meant homemade cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate everyday after school. My mom made the best homemade cinnamon rolls, dripping with vanilla icing. I could smell them, hot out of the oven as I turned the corner onto my street. Oftentimes, I would run home just to grab one before I went out to play.

Halloween

As a child, the first hint of Autumn  suggested that Halloween was in the air.  I loved Halloween, most of all. I’d put on my $2.99 boxed costume that my mom purchased at the local 5 & 10 cent store, a stiff plastic mask held on your face, with  a rubber band in the back attached with two staples. As a result, ten minutes breathing into the mask and you broke out in a sweat. The synthetic costume, tied in the back like a hospital gown, was always too short showing your pedal pushers leaking out from the bottom. This was akin to a slip showing underneath a dress. It didn’t matter anyway because my mom made me wear my coat over it. With a large paper bag from my local Market Basket, I was ready for a night in the neighborhood. Darkness couldn’t come fast enough.

Certainly, those were the good ole days when you could load your bag with candy and popcorn and not be afraid to eat any of it. I even scored a few pennies. Two hours later, we’d walk back home exhausted, and green from sampling most of the candy, and we’d call it a night. For two months afterwards, coming home from school was a real treat, cinnamon rolls and candy.

Thanksgiving

The next morning brought a new anticipation – Thanksgiving at Aunt Verna’s with grandma, all the aunts, uncles, and cousins. There must have been at least 40 of us. It was a miracle how we all fit in the living room/dining area. The feast, similar to your Thanksgiving dinner, I am sure, included turkey, mashed potatoes, yams, green-bean casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and of course delicious desserts – pumpkin and mincemeat pies.  However, it also included my Italian grandmother’s cannoli’s and homemade cookies. Of course my eyes were always bigger than my stomach, and within a few minutes I was full, but I still asked for seconds where the stuffing and mashed potatoes was concerned.

I miss those Thanksgivings. My parents, my grandmother and most of my aunts and uncles in California have passed on now. Therefore, I usually spend my Thanksgivings home alone reading a book, but the memory of those fun times is singed forever in an endearing way.

Goodbye to Summer

Aside from Halloween and Thanksgiving, Autumn is so very welcome because it also means the end of a hot, brutal summer, especially for those of us living on either coast. One day this summer it actually got up to 121 degrees here – the hottest on record. The crisp days of Autumn is a welcome respite to the miserable days of summer.

What We Love About Autumn

Autumns also represents so many things we love – pumpkins on doorsteps; apples; colorful autumn leaves fluttering from trees; bonfires; long walks in the woods; hot apple cider; bulky sweaters; a cozy, crackling fire; candles glowing in windows; a lovely hay ride; pumpkin bread; autumn spice cake with cream cheese frosting; hot chocolate with whipped cream; scarecrows;  s’mores; the smell of cinnamon and nutmeg throughout the house; pumpkin and cranberry bread; wool blankets;  Cherrywood smoke curling from chimneys; plaid flannel shirts; caramel apples;  and pumpkin spice latte.

I don’t know about you, but autumn energizes me with a renewed sense of appreciation for nature, more so than during any other season. Every berry, nut, and twig seems to pop out of nowhere and wants you to take notice and I do with a renewed sense of wonder. Bring me any day, the  crispness of autumn, the leaves dancing to the ground forming a colorful quilt on every street and lawn, and during my walks, the crunching sound beneath my feet of fallen leaves and acorns.

Don’t forget the extra hour in bed when our clocks go back. What I wouldn’t give to be hunkered down in a chalet right now sitting by the hearth reading a book or writing with a lovely cup of cinnamon tea and a slice of banana cake with cream cheese frosting.

(Featured top image credit: Photo by Petra Boekhoff is available under the Creative Commons CCO 1.0 license on Pixabay,com.)