When I was a kid, fall was my favorite season. Yep, I was one of those kids who loved school. And in my small Michigan town back then, things were simpler. We raked leaves and burned them in driveways, after we’d had our fun jumping into big, crackly, red and yellow piles. The football field was a block away and you could hear the high school band practicing when the players weren’t on the field, coaches’ whistles shrieking.
Every Friday a pep rally passed by our house, cheerleaders riding the firetruck and the band showing off its not-quite-perfect rendition of the school fight song, and even less perfect marching cadence. Homecoming was a big deal, with floats and pretty senior girls dressed in prom dresses, riding on the backs of open convertibles.
It was the time of year when Mom opened the upstairs trunk and closet to pull out the cold weather clothes, and put away the summer ones. Nothing like the first day you get to don your favorite sweatshirt after school before you run back outside to play. I think PF Flyers make you run faster when the weather is cooler and you have on your jeans and sweatshirt. Summer is the time for lounging in the muggy heat, eating watermelon and spitting out the seeds, and playing games in the porch shade. Fall is for getting out there and doing stuff.
I went through a time in my life when summer was my favorite season. I was older, and dating and other adult activities seemed better suited for wearing fewer clothes. Then I hit the period where spring was my favorite. I had become a homebody with my own home and garden. Spring was magical. Winter has never been my favorite, though I did love it when I was a kid. Snowmen, skating, sledding…it was all great. Since moving to the Pacific Northwest, winter just doesn’t offer much except a time to catch up on indoor stuff and wait out the four months of dark and drizzle.
Now, fall is my favorite again. These late summer days when you feel the change in the air, but it’s still technically summer, are the best. Even though I’m long past my school days, I always buy a new pen and notebook in the fall. And maybe a new sweatshirt. I wonder if PF Flyers would help with my arthritic hip. That’s probably asking for too much. But could we at least have a parade on Main Street every Friday afternoon?
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