I didn’t understand October as a favorite month UNTIL I moved to the Midwest. It’s not much different from other months in the south.
When we moved to the Midwest, people always talked about the Fall and how much they loved it. I hadn’t experienced a nice Fall or the change of colors in the leaves before. It did make a compelling argument!
Spring was always my favorite growing up, and in many ways, it still is, though it’s rainier in the Midwest than I remember it being in the South.
The one reason I LOVE the Midwest is that we have 4 real seasons here. It’s not just brown or green, as it was when I grew up. We have the winter grays and browns, but there’s white out there when it snows. That’s so beautiful! I may get tired of shoveling it, or driving in it, but I don’t get tired of watching it fall. Snow is like magic for me.
Then it’s followed by the burst of life in springtime. Rain, yes, storms, yes. But I see new life and that’s always exciting for me.
Even though it gets pretty hot sometimes, I love the summer too. Bright, vivid colors surround me. Rain is appreciated if it’s not non-stop.
And then Fall! Beautiful yellows, reds, oranges, and purples surround me! Life isn’t finished yet, but it’s ready to go to sleep soon.
I can’t get that kind of beauty where I grew up. I miss the South almost every day, but I think the Midwest won the battle in my heart for every day living.
Growing up in MA,(Yankee redneck) we had four seasons and nice foliage in the Fall. Plenty of snow and the road to my aunt and uncle’s house was lined with white birch trees. If if was a sticky snow that stuck to the trees, it became a white tunnel. After I got my license, I used to love driving the rural areas during Fall and seeing the foliage and kicking up orange leaves that had fallen and collected on the roads.
Then I lived in FL for 25 years where it was Summer most of the year. Only thing that turned color was people’s lawns turning brown in Winter.
Now I’m in MO with four seasons again. Foliage isn’t as good overall but since I’m in hill country of the Ozarks mini mountains, there are a few exceptional views during that time. We get a little snow most years but get even more ice, rain that freezes on everything including the trees. They look like they’re made of crystal sometimes. At the end of Winter into early Spring, about the time you get sick of the grey/brown, the dogwoods, serviceberries and redbuds start blooming. Huge amount of Spring wildflowers here and this year with all the rain, they kept going well into Summer.
The problem with foliage here is that post oak, our predominate tree, goes from green to yellow to brown within a week or two. Hickory goes bright yellow and red oak goes red and both stay that for a good amount of time. I try to avoid cutting anything but post oak here to improve the foliage and plan to plant shrubs and trees for more of the orange and red.
Ditto that. The South has t’storms, tornados and if you are on the coast, hurricanes, to keep one on their toes, but when it comes to refreshing changes, the Midwest is tops. My wife (a Filipina) needed a few years to get used to “the dramatic changes” every season, as she put it.
Granted that you have to go through some discomfort to really enjoy the good stuff! But, in the South and North you get even more discomfort.
My brother loves his “almost always great” weather in CA, but, it sure does help bring them other problems.
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This cool spell is very interesting: Rather than a cold front blasting through with a “dramatic” (as my wife would say) lowering of temperatures, it’s been quite gradual. Tomorrow is wifey’s church’s big picnic day, and it will be comfortably warm (the forecast high is now 84°, but the NWS “charts” say 82°), sunny, with the dewpoint falling to 56° by 3 pm, and a northerly breeze. The only (weather) problem may be the breeze blowing napkins and paper plates off the tables!
Then it cools down a bit more, with highs just under 80° Monday and Tuesday, and forecast @ 81°, all with dewpoints in the lower 50’s. Amazing for late August!
Following, it looks great all the way through Labor Day, but with a bit of a warming trend with dewpoints in the low 60’s by then. Fantastic, except we DO need some rain sometime, and the chances are low.