The end of summer is often greeted with loud laments. After all, daylight is fading, kids are going back to school, cottages are closing up, and every day draws us closer to snow, slush, and days of dreary cold.
If you stop and think about it, though, fall’s got a lot going for it. In fact, it may even be better than summer. Take a look at this list of why we think so and let us know if you agree.
1. You’ll stop feeling guilty about staying home and reading on the couch. Summer’s good weather is so fleeting that it sometimes seems sacrilegious not to be enjoying yourself outside all the time, even though no one’s managed to make a deck chair that’s as comfortable as your favourite indoor reading nook.
2. You can pack up summer’s nagging body anxieties with your tank tops, shorts and swimsuits. Guys, you no longer have to worry about what socks will go with what sandals (although, for future reference, the answer is NONE).
3. PUMPKIN SPICE EVERYTHING.
4. Apples everywhere! And not those mealy, tasteless summer abominations, either—crisp, tart, juicy apples are at every farmer’s stand at this time of year.
5. Football season starts, and in the few precious weeks before the grim reality of hockey season gets underway, Leafs fans still have time to indulge in Stanley Cup fantasies.
6. Your car no longer becomes a suffocating torture chamber, and your boat stops giving you third degree burns when you sit on its metal seats without a cushion.
7. Sure, summer’s got long weekend, but are they paired with turkey, stuffing, gravy and pie? Nope.
8. Autumn leaves are like a fantastic fireworks display—minus the traumatized pets and crying babies.
9. It’s too cold for your annoying neighbour to sit on his dock with the stereo blaring all freakin’ day. And grass grows slower, so he won’t be mowing his ridiculously manicured lawn every morning at dawn.
10. Say goodbye to clammy pillowcases and sticky sheets, and revel in fluffy, snuggly duvets.
11. Hasta la vista, hayfever.
12. Adding layers to stay warm is easier—and more legal—than trying to stay cool by taking them off.
13. Cuddling on the porch or in a hammock is a lot more comfortable when you and your snuggle buddy aren’t fused together by a sticky layer of sweat and sunscreen.
14. Buh-bye blackflies. Move on, mosquitoes.
15. Soup. Stew. Dumplings. Chili. All those rib-sticking, warm-and-comforting foods are suddenly so much more appetizing.