Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall. If you had to pick one, which season is your favorite?
Mine is definitely fall.
Yours? Oh, come on. I feel like I can’t be alone in the Fall Fan Club.
Whether you chose Fall as your favorite season or not, here are four reasons Why We Love Fall.
1. It Delights Our Senses
Our sight takes in the brilliance of leaves turning beautiful colors, gorgeous Oklahoma sunsets, and our littles in the most adorable Halloween costumes. Seasonal smells like cinnamon, pumpkin spice, apple cider, and banana bread draw us into coffee shops and bakeries and invite creativity and comfort into our own kitchens and homes. The sounds of leaves crunching under our feet, a high school marching band playing their fight song, or the quiet crackling of a bonfire all provide a sense of contentment that goes deep. We get excited to wear things that are soft to the touch, like flannels, extra soft sweaters, silk scarves, fleece hoodies and our favorite jeans. Experiencing the taste of s’mores, a pumpkin spice latte, caramel popcorn, apple pie, or hot chocolate is something we’ve been anticipating all year, and it does not disappoint. Fall absolutely delights our senses in every way.
2. Fall Activities Promote Community
There’s nothing like hometown pride when we attend a high school or college football game and are cheering for the same team as half the stadium, where we observe people of all ages clothed in our team’s colors. We feel such a sense of camaraderie and like we’ve found a place to belong. These are our people. This same sense of community is apparent at homecoming parades and other school activities. And let’s talk about trick or treating and fall festivals. What other day do we get to see so many of our neighbors and friends? Whether they come to our home to trick or treat, we come to theirs, or we pass them on the street while collecting treats or run into them while playing carnival-type games at a fall festival, community is happening. This is not only a family experience, it is a shared experience with your neighbors and friends.
3. It starts the Family/Holiday season
First comes Fall, then comes Halloween and Thanksgiving, followed by Christmas and New Year’s. That’s a lot of fun, food, friends and family packed together! While the holidays can be hectic, they can also make our hearts full. Fall starts that magical season where we find ourselves catching treasured moments, contented sighs, generations experiencing things beside each other, and amazement in our children’s eyes. We reunite with far-away family members and friends who come into town. We experience church by candlelight with our loved ones, sledding with our nieces and nephews, and take time to be grateful for the life we have and the people beside us.
4. Fall teaches us that it’s OK to let things go
When trees let go of their leaves in the Fall, they are letting go of what is dying. The trees are preparing for winter and what’s on the other side of it, new growth in the Spring. Fall teaches us that it’s OK to let things go. In order for us to grow personally, we may need to release something. If we find ourselves hanging onto something that’s dead or dying, perhaps it is time to let it go and prepare for the new, stronger buds in our lives to open. Let’s take a cue from Fall and let things go. Let go of chaos. Let go of resentment. Let go of fear. Letting go causes growth.
If you need something to do while you’re contemplating that last point, I highly recommend baking these banana chocolate chip bars or your favorite fall treat.
It just may push you over into the Fall Fan Club.
- 3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 to 3 medium)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 6 ounce package (1 cup) semisweet chocolate pieces
- Grease a 15x10x1 inch baking pan and set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the butter or margarine with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in the remaining flour. Stir in the chocolate pieces.
- Spread in the prepared baking pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven about 25 minutes or until golden. Cool before cutting into bars.