Cool ramblings (or “Fall is my favourite season”)

If you’re a person who loves everything about summer, this post isn’t for you. You might want to go back outside to your garden or your lawn chair and just sit this one out! What are you doing on your computer anyway, when the weather outside is great for you? Ha ha, Go get a tan, bask in the sun, sip your cocktails, and enjoy it.

While my preferences aren’t necessarily common, I know I’m not alone in them. This post is for people like me who could live very happily without ever having summer.

 

I’m sitting on my porch with the windows open, listening to the birds. I’ve just hung up a little sign I was given for Christmas that has a picture of Snoopy stretched out on his red dog house and the words “happiness is a little peace and quiet”.  I need another one that says “happiness is a nice cool breeze”.

Today is a lovely day – for me.  It rained overnight and there’s a beautiful cool breeze blowing through my house, a breeze which would undoubtedly be sweater worthy for many others, but I’m relishing the chill. I can breathe better; I can think better. I can function and I’m in a much better mood. (FYI:  Summer depression is a real thing. Not saying I have it, but it exists. I think I’m still just on the edge where it can be managed by hiding indoors with lots of water and Tylenol, and thinking about fall… )

It occurred to me the other day in conversation that there is absolutely nothing I like about summer.  For the sake of further discussion – and before anyone jumps on that one statement with questions like “what about flowers?” Or “what about the sunshine?” Or “what about…?” – let me clarify: there isn’t a single thing about summer that I like and cannot enjoy during another season, without enduring all the things I hate about summer.  For the record, I do like flowers and mine are fake so I can enjoy them anytime, their beauty doesn’t depend on rain or shine, and I can change them whenever I wish, with little or no work at all! Don’t be mistaken; I’ve received many compliments on my lovely artificial blooms.

I don’t like bees, bugs, mosquitoes, camping, gardening, eating outside, extreme heat that makes me physically sick, massive storms that knock the power out or do other damage, and any number of other inconveniences summer brings, including a noticeable lack of good television programming for people like me who only manage to keep their sanity by tuning out summer and focussing on other stories in other places, while sitting in front of a fan or air conditioner. The good shows are over until fall and the interim programs are usually lame because the networks know most people are outside! (obviously I know that many things I find inconvenient will be the very things summer lovers enjoy, so there’s no need to tell me that. And again, why aren’t you outside instead of reading stuff on the Internet? You must have some summer thing to do…)

I LOVE FALL!

Now think about this for just a minute: if it weren’t for the impending winter bringing its own set of frustrations for many people, myself included, who can really not like fall?

Fall has beautiful colours and days still warm enough for outdoor people with no extremes to cause problems for summer heat haters.  Everywhere you go you can wear the awesome sweaters that are too warm for indoors in winter but not warm enough for outdoors, and far too warm for anywhere in the summer. You can still wear sandals and capris, go for long walks and hear the birds. The sun still shines for people who want to be out in the middle of it, but not intensely enough to annoy people who spend their summers in the shade trying to avoid it.  There is no snow to shovel, but there is already an anticipation of holiday seasons that puts people in a good mood.

I vote for fall. I’ve never heard anyone complain about fall other than the fact that it’s followed by winter. I would actually like to have fall all the time. Is there a place I can live where I could get that? I could also tolerate spring in a pretty place with no mud. Is that possible? Spring – fall – spring – fall.  If there is such a utopia, please let me know.

Right now I need to go and close all the windows of my house so I can trap the  wonderful cool fresh air inside before the sun starts beating down again…