After living in Oklahoma for 10 years now I have finally accepted the fact that the state has two seasons: (1) summer and (2) not summer. I grew up, went to college, and started a family in three Midwestern states. In all of these places I enjoyed experiencing all four seasons. My favorite has always been fall. Then, we moved to Oklahoma. In the summer; and in July, no less.
On the second day of living here, the temperature on my van’s dashboard read 101º F. It was like that the next day. And the next. I assumed relief would come by September. Surely it would cool down with fall just around the corner, right? Meanwhile, Mother Nature laughed at my naive assumption. It still felt like summer. Once October rolled in, the temperatures started to become more reasonable. But something was missing: the weeks and weeks of cool, crisp fall that I had grown accustomed to. It was as if we had fast forwarded through fall and jumped straight into winter.
In spite of the fall season being shorter here than it is in Midwestern states, there are several things that I do enjoy about the relatively short bit of fall that we experience here in Oklahoma.
- School is in full swing. The fall months are when our household has gotten into a rhythm with the new school year. The first month of school in our household always feels like summer: we’re sweating all of the time. Sweating about new teachers, new schedules and new routines. Fall brings a calm, steady coolness that feels less overwhelming.
- Being comfortable outdoors. My favorite form of daily physical activity is walking outdoors. There are several local parks with walking trails that I enjoy frequenting. The cooler temperatures mean that I can comfortably get my walking in pretty much any time of the day. Family walks around the neighborhood are also much more enjoyable.
- Sweater Weather. I love bringing out our fall clothing. There’s something so comforting about sitting outside reading a good book in a cozy, well-worn sweater or sweatshirt and a pair of leggings. Although, if you have tweens/teenagers, sweater weather is apparently year-round. I have yet to understand how mine are able to wear sweatshirts in the summer and not pass out.
- Bring on the comfort food. Fall is when my crock pot does the heavy lifting in our dinner schedule. A bowl of hearty soup or chili on a crisp fall day just makes us all feel good. I also enjoy baking in the fall because the oven heating up the house is more tolerable than it is in the summer.
- The end of daylight-saving time. The Sunday that ends daylight-saving time is always a glorious morning because of the extra hour of sleep. I feel more rested during standard time. When the kids were younger, daylight-saving time made bedtime a challenge because it was still light outside at their 8:00 p.m. bedtime.
There are many other aspects of fall that make it my favorite season: the gorgeous tapestry of colors on the trees, the fallen leaves, the anticipated fall premiere of a favorite television show.
Conspicuously absent from my “favorite things about fall” list is pumpkin spice — the apparent official flavor of fall. I’ll end this with a hot take about my favorite season: pumpkin spicing anything and everything is not necessary. Yes, I’m talking about you, limited edition pumpkin spice scented trash bags and pumpkin-flavored seltzer water.
Christina Mushi-Brunt is a former professor turned freelance writer and public health research consultant. Christina, her husband and their three kids reside in Moore, where she is active in the education community.
