Once upon a time, I used to love fall. I loved walking through, or jumping into a huge pile of leaves. I looked forward to my annual trek to Starbuck’s for their seasonal Pumpkin Spice Latte. Loved to walk outside and be able to make thick clouds of exhaled breath. Even when driving to work, I loved to see the thick plume of condensation coming from the exhaust. Chilly weather gave me an excuse to wear my sweatshirts and hoodies since I felt so self conscious in a tee shirt.
At the same time, I used to hate summer, especially the brutal humidity. On those hazy, hot, and humid days, the air was so damp that it smelled like a skunk with diarrhea. At the time, the air con failed on my Chevy Malibu aka “The Green Monster,” and I hated driving with the windows down because of the wind noise at highway speeds, and I wanted some privacy because they were tinted. So I would only crack them open to provide a draft whenever I was on the highway, and I would still be visibly sweating.
Over the years, all that changed. I started hating the fall because it meant that winter was coming. Cold mornings, “brrrrr… START….. damnit” mutterings because my truck is cold, and it does not have heated seats, or a heated steering wheel. Crickets make themselves known in the fall, and I hate those buggers to pieces. They get into my room from underneath the siding, and I spray the outside with Raid on occasion. Earlier this week, I caught a baby cricket sitting on the leg of the dresser in my room. He was a difficult bastard to kill, but I got him. It also means that “coffee season” is approaching. That is my signal to stock up on flavoured coffee, French Vanilla creamer, flavoured tea, and to clean the Keurig.
But I started to love the summer. I could go to the marina and meditate, enjoy the breeze, go to the park and sit with my legs folded in the grass and be one with nature, walk barefoot in the grass. I still hate the humidity, but I deal with it. I learned that a Vitamin D deficiency was contributing to the increase in perspiration. That all stopped when I started taking supplements. On some hot days, I can go without the air con, unless I’m stuck in heavy traffic. I am not as self conscious in a tee shirt these days, and I will wear shorts if the temperature is in the 90’s with high humidity.
I can get more stuff done to my truck in the summer, like wash my car, clean the headlights, replace the headlight and tail light bulbs, et al. Doing that on a cold, fall afternoon is no fun. Depending on the ambient air temperature and time spend outside, my fingertips will go numb, even while wearing gloves, and when I go back inside my apartment, the warm up is literally painful. I have washed my car on a chilly day because the car wash charges too much money, and I don’t want to be around so many people. That also causes my fingers to go numb. Even though I fill the sprayer with hot water, it cools off quickly once I have been outside for over two hours.
Unfortunately, summer is waning, and Mabon is rapidly approaching. I do not look forward to fall weather. I was a member of a Facebook group that loved fall weather. But all the memes comparing people like me who hate the fall versus people who welcomed it started to annoy me, and I left the group. But I do look forward to Halloween, my favourite time of year. All my spooky friends can be themselves without judgement. But after Halloween comes winter, with all the snowstorms, the “polar vortex” that drops the temperature below zero, bone chilling cold mornings, frosted windows. Ugh! I hate the cold to pieces. I need to move to a place that is warm year round. Arizona sounds good, but the triple digit temperatures will likely cause me to develop a heat rash.
Another unfortunate event is that my dear sister suffers from seasonal depression. But she is busy on yet another project, so hopefully that will keep her mind occupied. But when she has the blues, there is nothing I can do to cheer her up. Unless we go antiquing in Ithaca. She enjoys getting bargains, and I enjoy watching her shop.
Alas, I must said goodbye to summer, It has been fun. I look forward to your return next year. Thanks for reading my post. Sat Nam.
The Introvert Soap Box 