Autumn is...

The kids are back in school. The days are shorter and very busy. The heat from summer has finally relaxed into the warm, but cooling fall weather. It's relaxing and calming. The schedule may be very busy, but at least it is a schedule instead of the chaotic and random days of summer.

I placed my online orders for my odd duck plants like my matrimony vine, aka wolfberry or goji vine, and my tea plants. I also order any odd trees I need to finish out my orchard in the back yard. So, I'm full of plans for the spring, but mostly enjoying the sense of things the way they are and the feeling of accomplishment that so much is thriving. I can sit out in the sunshine without boiling and just enjoy the time out with the kids.

In October, I'll be transplanting the things that need moved around in the flowerbeds since it will be cooler out. I love seeing the pumpkins popping up all around town for Halloween. It's just much nicer to do the heavy labor work when it isn't so crazy hot all the time.

Autumn is my time of year, I get round to doing all the jobs it was too hot for in summer!
Love the colors and special smells but most of all the night sky.

I chose other: Typically, Autumn here is rain, wind, and not enough light to play outside in the garden after work. It's the gateway to Winter...

I voted other too. I love the smell of burning leaves,buildng camp fires,roasting hotdogs and marshmellows. The beautiful clear night skys with the Milky Way in all its glory. Soups,chili,baking and freezing for Christmas. The brightly colored mountains.

But also i know i will have SAD before Spring. So i feverishly prepare to have craft work to start and move my recliner in front of a sunny window.

I also know i'll probably get snowed or iced in for several days so i also store batteries,candles,lamp oil, stock up on canned and dry foods,dog and cat food. Make sure i have plenty of propane.

Start thinking about those wonderful seed and plant catalogs coming in December and January. and order new ones this fall so i have plenty of pictures of flowers to think about ordering for spring,

Our dogwoods and sour gum trees have already started turning.

To me autum is a beautiful time of the year. Leaves changing colors, going out and picking up persimmons for a pudding, and lots of fall festvials going on. Crafts and Art markets opening. Oh and gathering walnuts and hickory nuts, to use this winter for making candies. Always a lot of excitement in the fall. Then the dreaded winter to follow. YUCK !!!!!

Autumn means the rest of summer before it gets really cold. Mosquitoes hang out and just wait for a warm body to bite, and the weeds don't die, they just slow down.

Autumn is wonderful. The air is so invigorating. No more humidity! The lower sun creates such beautiful colors everywhere. Only thing I don't like is the shorter days.

I voted for crisp evening temps and NO MOSQUITOS, but this year autumn means that it will finally be cool enough for this old lady to get out and build that pergola that has been calling to me all summer! Woo Hooooo!!!! :)

Isaac, I second that! We havent' had snow since 1981!!!

I am soooo glad Spring has arrived. We had a colder than normal winter.

Elsa

I voted other. For me, there are so many wonderful things about Autumn.

Autumn is the time of year that dh and I go for country drives to the foothills to see the fall colors. And at the same time stopping in at some of the farms up at Apple Hill. There are about 55 ranches where you can pick and/or buy all different varieties of apples. Some are Christmas tree farms. There is also a spa, several wineries, and a micro-brewery. Some of the ranches have arts and crafts booths, and corn mazes and Halloween themed areas set up for children to play in and enjoy. A wonderful place to go for a family outing, with something for everyone to enjoy!

Autumn is also the time of year when I start making soups, stews, casseroles and chili...all the comfort foods I remember from my childhood. I love to bake. Cookies, pumpkin and banana breads, gingerbread, and pies...I love the way the house smells when there is something yummy baking in the oven!

It's the time of year, when the daytime temps finally cool down to more tolerable temperatures...and the evenings are cool, and we can actually enjoy sitting out on the patio. The mums are all in bloom with their warmer fall colors, and I plant pansies, snapdragons, primroses, and cyclamen to enjoy throughout the fall and winter. And of course, plant more spring-blooming bulbs.

Then there is Halloween, dh's favorite holiday...he likes to decorate the front yard for the trick-or-treaters, and I usually do a fall harvest display on the front porch with a harvest wreath on the door, straw bales, pumpkins, gourds, and dried corn.

And finally, Thanksgiving, a time to reflect on the all things that we are thankful for and to be with family with lots of good food! Autumn is my favorite time of year! ^_^

Autumn is when I enjoy making soups and stews from all of my summer veggies. We eat mainly salad/fresh stuff in the spring/summer, but when the air gets crisp, we do love our comfort food!

I voted 'other'. I love the cool, crisp nights...love leaving the windows open to hear the night critters, love to see the leaves turning color. I also love this time of year for a change in diet...soups, stews, breads, home made pies.
Melody! You're right! Comfort food they are! :D

Ah, autumn. . . school buses ply their way down our street, the morning coolness gives way to the noontime warmth, before the golden light slants down at an oblique angle in the afternoon. Dahlias and gaillardia and marigolds still cast their colors, as I bring in mums and pansies to plant for the colder weather to come. Pumpkins appear on porches. Everyone seems to agree that this is a season to be celebrated.
And I. . . I have bags of bulbs arriving soon and I better get ready!!

Other -- as in gorgeous foliage, the best weather of the year (I loathe the hot muggies of Summer!), a sky bluer than any other season. Definitely my favorite.

The "skeeters" are out en masse as the barn swallows left a couple of weeks ago on their journey to South America. We had fewer nests around our porches this year, but there was still a good flock of birds vacuuming up flying insects from mid-March until then. In Central Texas autumn is a continuation of summer, but hopefully a little less hot and a little more wet. Winter, which usually comes by Christmas, means soup and stew, flannel shirts, and fires in the fireplace. Our coastal bermuda fields are still growing, and we hope to get a second cutting of hay in another three or four weeks. It was a brutally hot and dry summer in Texas, so we are really enjoying the change of season.

Autumn? What's that? In southeastern Louisiana, Autumn only lasts for about a week. If you blink, you miss it. I can't wait to quit MOWING THE GRASS!

I chose cool nights and no mosquitos, but I might add cool nights and low humidity. Sometimes, even when it's cool here, you can hardly breathe because the humidity is so high. I love sitting on my porch late at night listening to the night critters, but not when it's so humid you almost suffocate! Today it was wonderful! Turned off the A/C and opened the windows! It's going down into the high 40s here tonight. Think I better go move the "tender" plants.

Water temps at the beach drop and I have to wear a wet suit (uggh) to do any boarding.

I voted Autumn? almost Winter. In summer I love the warm eves on the patio or deck listening to the crickets & frogs singing. My firepit burning, chatting with family around the fire & smores. This year our summer was almost none-highs in mid 60s & low 70s until August for about 3 weeks it got into the 80s and it was over!
I used to love the Fall, it seemed there were warmer days back then & enjoy the harvest of crops on the farms and of all your veggies and the beautiful colors in the trees. We would go picking apples & have cider & donuts at the orchard. I just love being outside all day long in the warmer weather and I don't like it when I'm forced back inside for so long. It seems now our summer is shorter and fall is cooler and shorter and winter is long, cold, long, and snowy. We do snowmobile some up north but winter is a great time for me to be working on my quilt assembly and hand quilting. Then the catalogs come & I start thinking about something new to put in and what needs to be moved to another spot in spring.
We also like to go for a drive and see the fall colors, we have alot of places all over the state where there are gorgeous fall colors.

Just and additional note ... Wed night here is supposed to get down to 30 degrees & highs in the mid 50s. So that will end summer here as plants go.

I lived in Utah for a year and was not acclimated to that weather. Being a native Georgian, I described their climate as having two seasons --- winter and the Fourth of July!

Even with the heat and humidity here, I love our long, summer-like weather!

:-)

Autumn means all the things in the list but it also signals the end of flea season. We have had terrible flea infestations this year. Poor dog was raw in places even though we used the medications the vet gave us. We were having to put flea poweder on him (doesn't last) and a spray that only lasted 2 or 3 days.
Autumn also means the end of the katydid season. They are loud and obnoxious here all night.
We have beautiful fall colors here and the views open up that you can't see all summer. I am enjoying the late-bloomers, especially the obediant plant, last flush on the brugs and finally getting a bloom on my ginger which is about 6 feet tall.

Fleas were bad here too this year. Amen to that one!

I guess I should vote "other".

Autumn? What's that?! I've been in South Texas so long, I've forgotten...

Somebody remind me?!

LOL
(If you're from here, or live here, and have ever lived up North, you can understand I hope)

Brilliant blue October skies, the smell and feel of an old flannel shirt straight from the dryer :), the dogs enjoying the lower temps while working and playing, the sound of leaves whirling across the road - I love it all !!

It being cool enough for my hibiscus to bloom regularly and having the windows open (lower elec bills!)
Barb

Let's see. Until yesterday, it was still in the 90's here. Now, a 'cold front' has come through the area and dropped it down to the 80's F by day with nights in the 70's. Last night it was still 80F when the 11 oclock news came on.

Around here, 'autumn' is more of a less intense version of summer. It's still tank top and shorts weather but with less sweating. In general, it's a good time to do the garden work I couldn't do in July and August. We still have plenty of mosquitos, and it's too hot still for soup. As we may go back to the 90's when this front clears, it's probably risky to plant cold weather crops yet.

Bird migrations overhead and new visitors to watch for in the garden.
Being able to keep the windows open during the day.
Fewer bugs (skeeters and fleas hang around until the frosts hit in November)
Leaves changing color.
Halloween! Decorating and for the kids (and parents) we try so hard to scare.
Spring bulbs starting to sprout.
Sunlight quality changing, and that recognizable but indescribable "autumn feel" in the air.
My FAVORITE time of year!

Autumn means horrific Santa Ana winds, rain finally, getting home too dark to work in the garden, and eventually cold. Not my favorite time of year. Oh, and the first month is usually baking hot here in southern California

im not one for the cold, or the shorter days, or frost (which is coming way to early this year) or snow. i dont like it. i like the colors, and thats it, but here in ohio, we always have somthing that screws up the fall colors, like lack of rain, or strong winds that blow the leaves away before they turn, or an unexpected early frost. also cold and flu season(ive had 2 colds so far in the past 3 weeks)..... and seasonal affective dissorder. burrrr.... its getting chilly... i love being warm, and watching things grow, and being buisy in the garden.

We just had the first pot of chili for the fall season; next up, chicken corn chowder, vegetable beef, chicken vegetable with dumplings, bean and ham, Italian pasta and veggies...

Glad to see I'm not the only one that isn't thrilled with this time of the year. I was starting to feel like a lone Scrooge with everyone singing the praises of fall. LOL
If I lived where summers were plagued by relentless heat and humidity like some of you are describing, I'd probably be more appreciative of it. :-)

tropicsofohio, I used to suffer with SAD every year too. Then I heard that people were feeling better when taking 2000 I.U's of vitamin D a day. I tried it, and it worked. Worked fast too! Still not crazy about fall or winter but I don't suffer with SAD anymore at least.

Joy

Its cooler
The fair is coming
Do not have to water as much
I take one of my vacations !
Halloween

Our winter was also colder than usual, Elsa. although i think a lot of the other people would think our winter is HOT! :-)
Isaac

I voted 'other' as I like the leaf display--no 90 degree weather, but a lot of garden clean-up.

Unusually warm weather here; it still feels like summer! It won't last forever though... :(

The Fall is my birthday time. I always have a big party, for I came too close to not being here than I care to speculate!!!

For me, Autumn means:

Being able to be in the veggie garden after work because it's so much cooler now.

Opening the windows to get some fresh air in the house before winter sets in.

Planting all the veggies that like cool weather.

Watching leaves turn from green to gold/red

Gathering leaves from around the neighborhood to compost over winter - free dirt!

Making lists of those veggies that did well/not so well to plan for next year's garden.

Putting away summer clothes/sandles and bringing out the sweaters/pants/shoes.

Airing out the blankets, 'cause it's going to get cold any day now.

I also have to agree with gordo. And it would be a blessing not to have the mosquitos .So we could enjoy sitting out in the evenings. With out having ,to bathe in bug spray.