It’s autumn here in Michigan.  The time when the air turns cool in the evening, and the mornings are tinged in frost.  The leaves have changed, littered the yard in bright colors.  Despite the closing of summer, it’s a time of year I long ago came to enjoy.  While I’m a bit sad the the boat is put up for the winter, and the hard top is on the Jeep, I look forward to  greeting the day in a hunting blind, walking the trails through piles of crunchy leaves or standing on my deck in a sweatshirt and drinking coffee.

This is the season for making chili and campfires in the back yard.  Some years back we started a tradition of having friends over to celebrate this time of year.  Yes, another summer is behind us, but it’s pleasant to be able to spend the evening without having to worry about mosquitos.  I do lament the time change and the shorter days.  The sun goes down earlier and the mornings are dark longer.  But winter is still weeks away.  The nights are colder, but it makes for great sleeping and some of the days are still warm enough to enjoy being outside and even ride the motorcycle without having to bundle up too much.

I understand that the seasons you enjoy where you live may be different due to the climate.  So you’re mileage may vary, but here in Michigan, I enjoy fall more than summer if only because of the moderate temperatures and reduced effects of humidity.  Although we live in the north, it still get’s well over 90F in the heat of the summer and given that our state is a peninsula surrounded by lakes, the humidity is often well over 80%.  That starts to moderate in the fall.

A lot of people prefer spring, but spring here in Michigan is often the muddy season, especially for the first few weeks.  Yes, the grass will green up and the leaves are  filling the trees, but it’s almost constantly raining and gray.  The fishing season gives me much to look forward too, but the best days for that are ahead.

Winter seems to be everyone’s least favorite season.  There will be a short period of time when the air is frosty and crisp and snow blankets the ground and it’s beautiful, but mostly it will be cold, wet and nearly as muddy as spring.  There are a bright sparkling mornings to behold, but mostly we just bundle up, shovel snow and wait for warmer days.

For me, fall offers the best of the shoulder seasons without the harshness of the extremes of summer or winter, so it’s the season I look forward to the most.