As I've gotten older, fall has replaced summer as my favorite season. I no longer enjoy hot weather and despise the very cold. For me in Upstate NY, autumn usually arrives in mid October after the 80 degree Fahrenheit days have ended and 40 degree nights have returned. During those hot sunny summer days I fantasize my escape to a quaint little cottage in England with cooler temps and partly cloudy days. Today I was drawn to my patio door to see hail raining down from the sky, yeah, fall is here!

Now I can safely turn on the oven without overheating the house. Even boiling an egg can create a hot kitchen on a warm summer day. By now I'm tired of hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill and ready for anything baked and lots of soup.

Fall usually means closing the pool, mowing the lawn more often, raking and cleaning leaves, and putting all the summer stuff away. Here in the States, fall is the only month when you get to see all four of the major sports in action. Premier League Soccer is in full swing on weekend mornings with regular viewings on network tv (it has come a long way for that to happen) Even Rugby is getting tv coverage.

Now starts the holiday season with Halloween and Thanksgiving, and soon after Christmas and New Years become visible on the horizon. Pumpkin spice everything has invaded the grocery store and seemingly every product. The day after Halloween, all the candy displays will be down and Christmas decorations will be up in all the stores. Right around Thanksgiving, Christmas music will permanently hit the airwaves. I know winter is coming when BV posts pictures of five feet of snow at his home.

Autumn brings families together, large meals at the dining room table, lots of tv watching, computer searching and one of my favorites, reading. In America fall also meant Stones tours! At least in the past. For now, I'm looking forward to warm blankets, much cooler temperatures, and ...pumpkin pie. What about you?

The change of season also means more listening to great music for me. More than in the hot summer.

Listening to Little Barrie - Stand Your Ground cd. Lovely packeging too. Digipack with gold letters on it. And a 'gold look'cd too. Bought it this weekend.

The change of seasons are not easy to discern in South Florida. Events are more memorable when associated with a season and weather condition. However, it is worth the price to have warm weather.

With respect to Holidays, Halloween is very much celebrated in these parts as our community goes to extremes for this festivity. Decorative ornaments such as Bats, Skeletons, Ghosts, illuminated goblins etc... can be found at Office cubicles, and on Houses everywhere. Many adults wear costumes just as, if not more creative then their kids

At my household On Halloween night, we definitely give the costumed kids higher grade candies such as Kit Kats or Hershey Minibites. Although less enthused and cautious of potential cavities, we still participate, Last year the kids came by banging on the door and ringing the bell excessively, When opening the the front door, they would say funny things such as "Happy Mother's Day," "Merry Christmas," etc.. My wife and I laughed our ass off.

I have another Halloween story to share. When I was younger, maybe 7 or 8, I lived in a small town. When my friends and I were trick or treating we always feared going to a certain residence because we would have to "bob" for apples to get a treat. The experience was great and similar to the thrill of riding a roller coaster. Dunking the head in a sizable steel canister full of cold water to nab one of those apples while peers and parents laughed and took pics was quite an experience.

Same excitement carries over for Thanksgiving and Christmas in Florida. Nothing like seeing Christmas lights on different types of Palm Trees.

God Bless the Seasons!

Growing up in England, I never liked Autumn, days shorter and a depressing greyness to last for months on end.

That was definitely part of the reason I moved to Mexico about 15 years ago.

Having just spent the last year back in England, my family and I are not ready for another autumn/winter, so last week relocated to southern Spain for a few months!

Viva!

One of the best summer's in the UK for a number of years, and absolutely loved it.

Weather is good for this time of the year and had a pleasant 2 hour bike ride this afternoon.

If things work out, when I retire in hopefully 18 months time, I will be spending most of my time in spain.

England had a good day today, well in the South East at least.

I spent two hours working out in the gym, and then went and took the dog for a lovely walk. I had a tennis ball in the pocket, and was playing fetch with the dog. It was a beautiful golden autumn day today.

I also love Autumn, like Sicilian. Right now in the Puget Sound area, we are having some wonderful October weather. The brightly colored leaves contrasted against the blue sky are a sight to see. Also, the falling leaves are beautiful each year. And, the holidays in October, November, and December are my favorites, with all the kids and grandkids sharing delicious meals together, usually in our home. But soon we will have the gray, dark, damp weather characteristic of Seattle in the winter. But, each January, right after New Year, I attend a conference in Southern California. In late February I will go to India and Nepal for a couple of weeks. By that time the weather has begun to change and Spring will be here. So, that haas been my strategy for the past 5 years in dealing with the cold and damp. But for now, the weather is very nice.

i live just outside glasgow in scotland.

we talk about weather all the time.

we had a good late spring, this and last year, usually early to mid spring is cold still, light nights but temps barely reaching 12 degrees during day, but may this year was great, many plus 20 degree days.

usually summers are unpredictable, i hate cloudy summers with lower temps like 15 degrees which we can get in june, june turned chilly this year then warm again.

i hate the long light nights though, as it dont get completely dark, but also hate winter nights as its dark early.

wouldnt say i have a favourite season. depends on how the weather is, like cold dry autumn days, and frosty winter days, and warm springs, hate rain, we get it often and its worse in summer when it rains and its cloudy and depressing, we dont get much extreme variations from summer to winter, summers average 20 degree high, 12 degree low, while winters average about 6 degree high and just below freezing at night. april and october average 13 degree high and 5 degree low, but this varies and these months are unpredictable.

we can get temps of 31 degrees which happened once this year and a few years back it was 15 below freezing but this rarely happens.

fall/winter is torture for me. cold & damp is no good for severe RA. i'm told this is the single worst climate i could live in. thinking about moving to desert southwest when i'm done working. i would love to live in san diego but it's just too damn expensive.

I love this time of year. Live near Vancouver so leaves are starting to fall off trees, sunny out today (but rain is coming next week). Last couple summers there have been lots of forest fires in BC so lots of smoke.
NHL hockey starting as well as NFL football! Almost playoff time for CFL football and World Series starting soon.

The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry's cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.
The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.
Lest I should be old-fashioned,
I'll put a trinket on.

Emily Dickinson - Autumn

Love the Fall season ! Living here in Maine it is a beautiful season----

It also brings out specific artists to listen to with the chilly nights, the wood smoke in the air and the changing leaves: The Band, Nick Drake, Van Morrison

Quote
DaveG
I also love Autumn, like Sicilian. Right now in the Puget Sound area, we are having some wonderful October weather. The brightly colored leaves contrasted against the blue sky are a sight to see. Also, the falling leaves are beautiful each year. And, the holidays in October, November, and December are my favorites, with all the kids and grandkids sharing delicious meals together, usually in our home. But soon we will have the gray, dark, damp weather characteristic of Seattle in the winter. But, each January, right after New Year, I attend a conference in Southern California. In late February I will go to India and Nepal for a couple of weeks. By that time the weather has begun to change and Spring will be here. So, that haas been my strategy for the past 5 years in dealing with the cold and damp. But for now, the weather is very nice.

How close is the ocean from your home? Are your visits to India for missionary work or vacation time?