Really I can't see what there is not to like about fall. First things first, the weather. The last vestiges of the summer heat that have as of recent years found their way creeping into September are gone, and have been replaced by what is commonly known as cool comfortable "sweater weather." Time to grab that favorite sweater, hoodie, turtle neck or fleece that you know and love, and secretly can't wait to start wearing again. Don't give me that look, we all have one. Unlike summer where you wear as little as possible and still find yourself camped out in front of the AC or winter where just to be able to brave the outside you have to bundle up like Ralphie's little brother in A Christmas Story, fall is perfect for getting outside. What about spring you say? Spring is the bastard sister of fall, there I said it! Sure spring has the same beautiful weather that fall has, maybe even a little bit on the warmer side, but you pay for that weather with the assault on your senses. I'm talking about allergies, I don't have them but every spring that's all anyone bitches about, so they must suck. So don that comfy sweater and enjoy the outdoor activities fall has to offer, such as...
...apple and pumpkin picking! Nothing says fall like getting out to the farms and picking your own apples or pumpkins with your family and friends. One of my fondest memories as a kid on Long Island is going out to the farms with my family and enjoying the childlike freedom to roam about and pick apples straight from the trees and pumpkins straight from the vine. While I think as a kid my enjoyment merely stemmed from my ability to run amok and eat as many apples as possible before I started to fill the basket, I do still enjoy it as a wonderful day out as an adult. Granted I still do try and eat as many apples as possible, only now i'm smarter and do it while i'm picking apples instead of before so it's not as obvious as to what I was up to, take that mom! I mean come on you know it has to be fun when you're essentially driving further than you have to and paying the farms to be their day laborer! Who says farmers aren't smart?
Another amazing reason fall is so kick-ass is football! In my opinion the only really entertaining sport to watch. Fall is an awesome time for sports in general, the hockey and basketball seasons start, baseball is in it's playoff prime, but even with all that football takes the cake. Football is the only one that really knows how to work some excitement into their schedule, with that I mean the amount of games you get to watch per season. With me all the other sports even if I were so inclined to watching them have way to many games per season, so many so that they lose their excitement and become even less appealing. Don't believe me, look at the numbers! Hockey and basketball seasons both have 82 games a piece and baseball an insane 162 games per season! Wins and losses hardly seem to matter at that point, so whats to get excited about, your team lose today? Don't worry they play another 4 times this week! Football has it set out perfectly with only 16 games per season and each team only plays once a week. That's right 16, that way every game is important and you have all week to get psyched to see your team play. Besides the fact that you get more excited over each game because of the wait between games to me football is just more exciting to watch with constant action, and just like we're drawn to turn our heads at the signs of a car accident there is something about watching a sport that constantly involves people getting hammered on by 350lb monsters. Plus what can be more iconic pairing than Thanksgiving dinner and football?
The last thing i'm going to list but certainly not the least is of course Halloween! What other holiday let's you go door to door and get free candy (or pennies if they were old) from people?! Just waking up that day and knowing I was going to be allowed to dress up as GI Joe and get a vast amount of sweets brought unparalleled happiness to my little world at that young age. The joy of free candy eventually ends as you get classified as "too old" to be dressing up and going door to door, although I pushed that boundary as far as I could, it did eventually end. Just because your quest for free candy has ended doesn't mean the fun did as well, because after that you get to go to parties that involve groups of people still dressing up and enjoying Halloween themed games. Just when you start to think you're getting "too old" for these themed parties you're now old enough to imbibe in pumpkin flavored ale and these same games take on a whole new level of fun with the introduction of liquor! Really it's just kind of a fun way to let loose from the stresses of the work week and dress up and have fun as an adult. Unfortunately over the years since my childhood of trick-or-treating Halloween has seemed to diminished to barely called a holiday and every year I see fewer and fewer kids out on the streets looking for their free candy. At least as an adult there are no lack of bars to frequent for Halloween parties, so I've still got that going for me. With Halloween comes a bevy of movies that while any other time of the year you wouldn't give a second glance to if you saw it on TV, now makes you stop, sit, and watch. Personally i'm partial to "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas" but honestly i'd watch those two at anytime of the year, particularly the best "Disney" movie ever.
So that's fall in a nutshell or at least the things I enjoy about fall. Now i'm aware that my paltry explanations don't do it justice but hopefully at least something I've said opens your eyes to reason and makes you a believer in just how great fall really is. ∞
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