Fall in love (Saturated Market)

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Fall in love

We're now entering the last weekend of summer for 2008, the last couple days before the calendar tells us that the first day of autumn has begun. It's a sad time for many of us; cooler weather, time to put away the boats and camping gear (except for those diehards out there), and a whole lotta raking. We must bid farewell to summer, and hunker down for that last hurrah before winter.

But is that such a bad thing? I for one think that not only is autumn not a bad season, but that it is a GREAT season.

No sweat

I think fall temperatures have an unfair rep. Sure, it's not sit-in-the-sun hot, but is that such a bad thing? I'm all for a nice hot day, but I require one of two things to really get into a hot summer's day:

1. A patio and a beer
2. A lake to dive into...and a beer

The problem is, those sort of situations make up about 10% of my summer. The rest is taken up by 3 things:

1. Melting in a house with no a/c
2. Moving around the city in a cramped sweaty subway or bus
3. Sitting at a desk gazing longingly at the beautiful weather outside

Hardly ideal. Let's also take a look at this another way: extremes. Given the choice, I know a lot of people would rather be "too hot" than "too cold". But which is easier to accomplish? Warming up or cooling down? If you're cold, you can easily add layers, throw on a coat; if you're hot, there's only so much you can strip off before it becomes illegal, and chances are you're still gonna fry (and be mighty sunburned if you aren't careful!). And last time I checked, I'm pretty sure the majority of housing in the Great White North have heating, while a significantly smaller proportion have air conditioning; except if you live in Muskoka, in which case you have a wood burning stove and a lake.

Seasonal colours

Obviously, there's the matter of the changing leaves. We're going to spend winter looking at those bare sticks wishing for some greenery again, but you can't beat their swan song: reds, oranges, yellows, a nice splash of colour before the onslaught of the white and grey winter. Sure, you're going to have a lot of raking to do, but the weather nice and crisp, and you could use the exercise anyway.

Spending time with all your old friends

Fall has the distinction of not just being my favourite season, but also my favourite sports season. Many of the big sports enjoy a lot of overlap here, which is great for us, and the sports networks. While baseball, F1 and the CFL are entering the championship leg of their seasons, hockey and the NFL are just beginning their long drive to their respective cup or bowl. Sure, the NHL is still playing in the middle of summer, but that's an entirely different article (if Bettman's going to insist on such a long season, the summer playoffs should happen where they belong in that sort of weather: on the street with a ball and with the refs on 'car' duty).

Look as cool as it feels

Personally, and I'm sure there are plenty of people who agree with me (and certainly many who don't), I find fall and winter are the easiest on us for clothing. Beyond the impracticality of office-wear in the summertime, the fall allows a certain degree of laziness; and for me, that's a free pass. You can finally stop worrying about that shirt that doesn't quite fit, or that you really like but it has a hole in it, or if that summerwear is really all that appropriate for the office, and just take the easy way out: put on a sweater. As a guy (and a guy with little to no fashion know-how), I love being able to increase the diversity and reduce the conscious effort required for a great outfit with the classic sweater + collared shirt combo. It's professional, it's contemporary, and it means that so long as you have a few good sweaters, all you need are some shirts that have an intact collar.

Fall back, because fall's back

Last, but certainly not least, is one of my favourite occasions during the fall: the end of daylight savings. Sure, it's back to getting dark at 5 pm, but as someone who never quite adjusts completely to losing that hour in the spring, getting that hour back is paradise. You may not be all that affected by it, but it's almost enough to make me want to move to Saskatchewan and be done with the whole thing. Almost.

So fall's really not all that bad. Rather than being summer's mourning period, we need to embrace it as an all-around enjoyable season. So put on a sweater, grab your rake, have a pint of dark beer and start gathering firewood.

Until next time,