This time of year, I feel like a squirrel when winter doth approach. Most of the summer, I’m pretty content to take it easy. Most nights I go home after work, putter about the house, mow the lawn, maybe take a bike ride, throw something on the grill, watch the sun go down. Pleasant, but not particularly memorable. That’s single life in Suburbia for you. But once the days start getting shorter and we get the first clean, non-humid Canadian air dropping down, my mental state changes. I become depressed and it beomes clear to me that I Have Wasted My Summer and I must Do Stuff. Now.
In some ways, this is a good thing, because I do a lot of kayaking and hiking and just getting out in general. In other ways, it's just damn exhausting and frankly unsettling, because it's unpleasant to be continually asking myself, "Am I making the best possible use of the fading days?"
I assume that this is some genetic thing. We no longer have to worry about stocking up on nuts and berries for the long winter, but my genes don't know this. So what I try to stock up on is memorable experiences instead. Or it could just be that I'm hearkening back 35 or so years to the existential dread of yet another school year.
So does anyone else go through this? How does the shortening of the days affect you?
I have noticed, over the years, that when winter approaches I start to eat and sleep more. I gain a little weight. So I try to make a conscious effort to get a little more active.
I usually am not very active during the summer because of the mosquitos. I’m pretty allergic to mosquitos, so I try to avoid them when possible. I end up being more active in spring and fall than summer. I take a lot more walks outside and stay outside at dusk for longer.
When it starts to cool off and the leaves start changing, I get the itch for romancing There’s a sense of time being limited, it’s harvest, everything’s beautiful, find someone now for snuggling with in the winter to come…autumn is definitely for lovers!
I hear ya, Dolores! What are these seasons you’re talking about? It’s going to be in the 90s yet again today, and it’ll be more of the same until late October. Then it becomes bearable to go outside and do stuff. I ride my bike up to the bus stop, to go to work. I have to take a towel with me every day, because in five minutes after I arrive, I’m drenched in sweat. But hey, it’s the price I willingly pay for not seeing a single snowflake all of what they laughably refer to as ‘winter’ down here.
I used to get Seasonal Affective Disorder, and I was moody and depressed from September until May, from having nothing to look forward to but freezing my butt off every day, lack of sunshine, etc. It must be a conditioned response, because it was still happening for the first couple of years I was here, although not as bad. Now, I’m the same as other Floridians. I tolerate the summer and look forward to the winter. Boy, that’s a switch! Now, if I could just put a lid on my urge to want to bust out laughing when I see people wearing parkas when it’s 60 degrees…
Another New Englander checking in - I can’t wait for autumn…the season changes, I have a wedding anniversary in October, several birthdays (including my own) and anticipation for the holidays always makes me feel good.
It’s the 30 degree sleeting rain of January, February, March, and April I hate
The summer heat and humidity (Indiana is tropical, right???) really bother me. I find summer to be pretty oppressive–the heat, the light, yuck. It hurts to go outside. When Fall finally comes (and it doesn’t, till October) I am out of my head happy. I feel fresh and confident and useful again. I love the feeling of the world “turning in” for the cold weather. I love fall colors, and smells, and the holidays. I love digging out my sweaters and wooly socks. It is absolutely my favorite season.
Real winter here lasts from January to sometime in April. It is refreshing to be able to open the windows again, after being shut up during the cold months.
I feel excited about autumn coming. I’ll be able to sleep without the airconditioner running. I love it when it cools off, since I can always add a layer if I feel cool. In summer, there’s only so much you can take off, and sometimes that’s still not enough.
I will admit to feeling some trepidation about it not staying light until 9 pm, though. The evenings are my favorite part of summer days, since we’re close with all of our neighbors. Having barbeques or playing lawn games has been a lot of fun this year. Even though I’ll miss that as it becomes cooler, there’s all that reading I can catch up on, leaves changing makes a good excuse for more frequent hiking, and I love carving pumpkins. We usually have a big get together with a carving contest and I enjoy it as much as Thanksgiving or Christmas.
It’s when winter approaches I feel more like what you’ve written in the OP.
I love the change in the season. Personally, I get RSAD - Reverse SAD. The summer makes me miserable and become happy as it ends. I hate the hot, humid, sun-in-your-eyes, miserable allergy summer climes and greatly look forward to the cooler temps, the tranquil fall rains, the crisp autumn mornings and cold nights by the fireplace.
More than anything, I look forward to the fact that I don’t have justify my staying indoors
Add me to the list of summer haters. This summer hasn’t been as bad as most, but I just can’t stand the heat and humidity of summer. I also can’t stand the attitude of most people that “they live for their summers.” I eagerly await fall. Winter doesn’t bother me too much. It’s only around late March/early April that I get sick of the cold snaps. Spring is often rainy here, so I don’t care for it as much.
My attitude has changed over the past few years. I used to love th prospect of winter and snow. I also loved the winter holidays. I eagerly anticipated the start of the NFL season because it meant that Autumn and the holidays were approaching.
Autumn is nice. Cool and crisp. Leaves turning. but then there’s Winter.
Anymore it’s just a huge inconvenience. Heavy coats, icy roads, parking lots made smaller by piles of plowed snow. It’s just a pain in the butt.
Guess the OldBroad’s getting a little crotchety in her old age.
You and me both, baby. I hate summer, I hate the heat, I hate the burning sun, I hate the bugs, and I hate the allergies it causes. This summer hasn’t been that bad as far as God-awful oppressive heat and humidity go, but I still hate it. I hate running the A/C all the time.
I love the cool fall weather. I love getting out my sweaters and light jackets, and knowing that winter will soon be here. I love those cool, crisp mornings, walking throught crunchy leaves, and the nippy evenings when it gets down to about 45- or 50 degrees and I can crack the window open to sleep.
This is when I go back to work (I’m a teacher), so I’m looking forward to that, too.
I love summer. August is one of my favorite months. Warm, relaxed, cozy. July, June, May and April ain’t bad either. September is stressful. Oh, golly. New year. Gotta do really well this year. Those kinds of memories. October is annoying, and dumb. It has only one holiday, and that’s at the end, and it’s about death. How depressing is that? And everything’s fixin’ to up and die soon. November, stuff is already mostly dead. It’s cold and gonna get colder and darker for weeks and weeks. But at least there’s Thanksgiving to look forward to. December, well, there’s Christmas to plan for, which is both good and bad, but mostly good. And after that, well, the days are getting longer, and things are bound to improve soon. And that’s what I think about seasons.
Here the smell of spring is definitely in the air and winter (which has been very mild this year anyway) is drawing to a close. In a couple of months’ time daylight saving will start again and that will mean that summer and the Christmas holidays can’t be far off.
Allergy wise, I HATE Spring and Fall. I’ve got severe asthma so I can never breathe right in the Spring and Fall. I don’t like have to trudge through the snow during the winter, though I do like the holidays and I have dance in the winter, which I love. I like summer because I don’t have school, and it’s a nice time to just hang out with my friends and go swimming. I don’t like how humid it gets here though. Yuck. I walk to a friend’s house and i’m covered in sweat.
Yep, What BiblioCat, dalej42, Trigonal Planar, cichlidiot, Sattua, Phlosphr, and AHunter3, said. To me, summer in Florida must be like deep winter in the NE; you run from one air conditioned haven to the next; dodging the heat like northerners dodge the snowflakes. At least here, if the power goes out, I have two Vermont Castings Vigilant wood stoves capable of heating the entire house until I run out of fuel, which don’t happen, 'cause I’m a good New Englander and stock six cord of wood. Bring it on baby! Ask those poor unfortunates sweltering after that other pleasant fact of life in FLA , hurricane-itis, how much they enjoy shoveling sunshine now… (but seriously, I do feel for those folks) Anyway, love the fall, early winter, winter, get sick of it about March.
I think I’m an orchid. I love it hot, humid and still. As soon as the temps dip down in to the low 70s, I get out the electric blanket. However, this year I’ve had my very first experiences with hot flashes and night sweats, so we’ll just wait and see how this autumn goes.
On to the OP, however - I get creative this time of year. Possibly it’s thinking ahead to the holidays, I dunno, but I do get annual autumnal urges to get into the studio and make stuff. This of course requires a full clean-out in said studio, and once that’s done, I generally notice the rest of the house looking kinda grubby by comparison. So basically, I do all my spring cleaning this time of year, then I hole up in the studio for a few weeks of intensive crafting.
One weird thing (and it’s girly TMI for some, so don’t look in the spoiler box unless you really wanna know):
The changing of the clocks ALWAYS throws my menstrual period off by a week. In the fall, it’s always a week late; in the spring it’s always a week early. Otherwise my cycle is like…well, like clockwork.
I perk up when fall arrives. I am not a fan of hot humid weather. If I had my druthers I’d move to Summit County CO. Nice and dry with few days if any over 90. Fall weather is great, cold, damp, misty with grey skies I love the weather like that. As an added bonus football season starts in the fall.
There’s a sense of time being limited, it’s harvest, everything’s beautiful, find someone now for snuggling with in the winter to come…autumn is definitely for lovers!
Anyway, love the fall, early winter, winter, get sick of it about March.