The Magic of Fall
There’s something about being able to feel change in the air, such as the arrival of Fall. The temperature cools ever so slightly as summer signals its departure, until crisp morning air tells you the new season is here. It’s not only changes in weather that signal Fall.
Fall is a commercially strong season, where we’ve identified and curated exactly what it means to be in Fall. In foods we have apple, pumpkin, cinnamon, and maple. In fashion we have jackets, boots, and clothes in a vibrant color palette. It’s a popular time to be outdoors to enjoy farms, corn mazes and pumpkin patches.
Fall is a beautiful transitional time that fills the air with new beginnings. Maybe it’s because growing up our school years begin around September and it’s marked by changing colors in the foliage. Similar to Spring, it feels like a time for renewal. In my younger years, Fall meant new school supplies, freshly sharpened pencils, and blank notebooks. Now I look forward to all the apple flavored everything and Fall scents from Yankee Candle.
But Fall has more recently reminded me of renewal. I watch the trees change color and know it won’t be long before those leaves shed. The impermanence makes me enjoy them more, knowing I have to slow down and savor this time before it’s over in place of something new. It’s the time of year when my commute is the prettiest; if I don’t pay attention, I’ll miss the subtlety of the daily color changes. Somehow Fall feels shorter than each of the other seasons, with only a short leap until the holidays, as Black Friday starts earlier each year, seeking to extend the holiday season. I think Fall also feels shorter because there is not a lot of time that is just Fall. October calls for all things spooky and November has us preparing for Thanksgiving. While Fall activities are incorporated into all 3 months, September feels like the only month that doesn’t have anything specific going on except enjoying the season.
There’s a feeling of stability around this season too. After Labor Day, year after year, we follow the same script. Seemingly, a lot of our annual traditions begin to get underway. I always put up my Fall decor on Labor Day so I can enjoy my pumpkins and leaves for as long as possible. I organize my Fall candles, to ensure my stores will last the whole season. I have the tradition of vowing to get to a pumpkin patch and never doing it and finding haunted history lessons via ghost tours. I have at least one Fall Starbucks drink,, and crave muffins that have a hint of maple.
I love how from here on out, there’s almost a standard set of activities that we’ll do in a nearly-specific order: we’ll enjoy Fall things like the leaves, flavors, and fashion; we’ll transition to horror movies, haunted houses, and Halloween parties before the beginning of extended time with loved ones around Thanksgiving, to launch the holiday season. While it might be too soon to say, the end of the year feels upon us from the moment Fall arrives and we fall into this familiar pattern.