What is your favorite season of year? Why?
Autumn. I have weighed the other three and they did not make it past the first round. Summer is sweaty, winter is a punishment, and spring spends most of its time being almost something. Autumn arrives, the leaves turn, the air sharpens, and for a few weeks the whole world looks as if it has been professionally styled. Here are my reasons, in order of how much I would miss them.
- The colors.
Trees spend all year being green and then, without consulting anyone, go red, orange, yellow and brown all at once. A hillside in full autumn is the only scenery I will stop a car for. It looks as though someone dipped the landscape in warm paint and did not bother to be subtle about it, and I respect that. - The air.
Summer heat gives way to something cool and sharp that wakes up the whole face. Every breath feels like a small reset. It also carries a promise: cozy evenings, blankets, and the sense that something festive is coming and will involve food. - The harvest.
Autumn is the season when gardens and orchards finally pay out. Freshly picked apples with a proper crunch. Pumpkins, sweet and ridiculous in size. Cinnamon, nutmeg and baking in the air, so that even a house with nothing in the oven smells as if it is about to serve you something. - The sounds.
Fallen leaves crunching underfoot. Rain tapping at the window. Migrating birds calling to each other somewhere overhead about a schedule I am not party to. It is a season that asks you to slow down and listen, and for once I do. - The change.
Autumn is proof that letting go can look good. Trees drop everything they spent all year growing and do not appear remotely embarrassed about it. If they can do that, I can release the odd habit that is no longer serving me and make room for something new. It is the most reflective season, which is a polite way of saying I do a lot of staring out of windows.
So, autumn. The colors, the air, the food, the sounds, and the annual reminder that change can be done with style. It is my favorite season, and if I have not convinced you, go and stand under a tree while the leaves are coming down. We can talk after.
