The School Of Hard Equinox

So.  Fall officially begins shortly after midnight tonight (04:03 UTC, 12:03 am EDT).  And, of course, the high tomorrow will be near 87°F where I live.

Let's take a moment to discuss some of the pros and cons of fall, shall we?

PRO:

• Summer is over.  I realize that this fact also serves as a "con" for many, especially those still in grade school, who shouldn't be reading this anyway because of all the swears I use.  But I've come to realize over the years that I'm just not a summer kind of guy.  Not for me the go-get-'em, sun-worshippin', outdoorsy, half-naked Juicy Fruit lifestyle.  I'm basically a big cranky hairy sweaty guy with a bad back and weird knees.  I will be happy when the temperature outdoors is lower than body temperature and humidity is less than 8000 percent.
• On the day Daylight Saving Time ends, we get an extra hour.  I always get a kick out of that, although I have yet to think of something really interesting to do during that hour. 
• Autumn is the season in which my birthday happens.  This was a bigger deal when I was younger.  (See CON, below.)
• The new season of TV starts.  Actually, is this even true anymore?  I have no sense of the ebb and flow of normal television these days, since I don't get cable and can usually only pull in PBS with my rabbit ears.  I know that the new season of "History Detectives" has already come and gone.

CON:

• Leaves.  I wasn't sure whether this was a pro or a con, actually.  Leaves are pretty, sure, and piles of them are fun to jump into (if you're sure there's not a rusty farm implement or nest of snakes in the pile, that is), and burning leaves smell good, although I think it's illegal to burn them around here nowadays.  But you've got to rake them up, or at least hire an undocumented worker to come over and blow them around.  I mean, I don't have to, since I live in an apartment.  But enough institutional memory of raking leaves remains to equate leaves with a big pain in the ass in my mind.  Also: yeah, they're pretty, but I always feel like they're prettier elsewhere, and if I really want to fully enjoy the leaves, I'd have to go to the mountains, and then you have to time it right so that you're there on the peak weekend or whatever and the whole thing just makes me tired.
• Autumn is the season in which my birthday happens.  I'm getting to be a little ambivalent about birthdays, I guess.  Not all that thrilled about getting older, and I don't get as many guaranteed presents as I did back in the days that my parents were legally required to buy them for me.  Actually, this cartoon sums up part of how I feel.  Thank you, Web cartoon, for making it unnecessary for me to fully plumb my emotions!
• Next summer is just that much closer.  Oh, Jesus, no.

Anything I missed?

Comments

[Amanda]

piles of them are fun to jump into (if you're sure there's not a rusty farm implement or nest of snakes in the pile, that is)

Oh, the optimism!

[lastewie]

One thing that you are good at, of many, is the UTube Nostalgia Link. Thanks for the (fem-)mulletty goodness of the 1986 Juicyfruit commercial!

Oh, and I totally began to throw my own birthday parties once I realized that others weren't gonna do it for me. I'd offer to throw you one, but I can't manage two parties in one month.

xxoo

[lisa]

this year, i plan to mow my leaves. my new mower has a bag for catching that which is mown. i'll get mulched leaves neatly bagged. i think this will be much easier than raking.

[pinky]

I am torn about the end of summer/beginning of fall. I hate being cold. Then again, I also hate being hot. But I do love getting out the down comforter, so that's a positive.

I didn't know your birthday was on halloween! if you want birthday fuss, you have to reiterate! there's no shame in that. it only happens once a year!

[Marianne]

I fucking hate summer. The bugs, the sweat, the incredibly expensive summer camps. Bring on winter I say and soups and knitting and hot chocolate. And even raking leaves which can be a Zen like activity.

[Sarah]

Greeting Everyone, mostly Jerry's friends.

Party at my house for Jerry's Birthday, if he doesn't show up, we can celebrate Halloween. Jerry, send me the guestlist and I will post an evite with directions and theme events...you met my roommate randomly today, so she is cool with the party idea...i checked. bring presents (small inocuous and funny presents, we can present them belatedly after midnight...party game idea.....we will rake leaves...

[I Zimbra]

Awww! That is so cool, Sarah-person, whoever you are. Put me on the guest list, Jerry.

[lastewie]

Count me in, too! Jerry, tell Sarah how to invite me. Yay!

[Phil]

Invite me, please!

-------

Having grown up just four or five blocks from Jerry's place, I have similar memories of all the leaves. And all the raking. I have very clear memories (in my head right now, mmmm...) of the smell of oak leaves; the feel of the some dry, some wet; the futility of trying to rake up acorns; and the fact that there is NO method on earth worth a crap for moving leaves into individual garbage bags. In my neighborhood we just raked leaves onto the street where they'd get vacuumed up after a while. But some of the people I did yard work for lived in neighborhoods where you had to bag. That sucked. Almost as much as the blisters I'd get because I didn't know to use gloves. (And my parents didn't know, either). Fall. Pro/con. Hmmm..

[marianne]

And me! Though I've probably got parental responsibilities that night. Like candy checking and making sure no Mounds or Peppermint Patties make it through to the alpha pile.