Farewell Summer, Hello Fall

Like waking from a dream, the transition from summer to fall always unsettles me. Though I may be jumping the gun, fall doesn’t officially start for another few weeks, once the calendar turns to September I can’t help but feel that fall has arrived.

On the one hand I love the heat and fun of summer like every other red-blooded American, whatever that means, but fall has always been my favorite. Though it begins inauspiciously with cooling temperatures and rain fall, you can’t deny that the air is charged with energy as it builds towards its crescendo of brilliant leaves and the promise of cozy socks and sweaters.

Though this summer may have been wetter and more tepid than others, the mentality was the same. Short shorts, long nights, and beach trips make it hard to think about the future, as the warm weather demands you spend as much time outdoors as possible. The summer can make you feel invincible, immortal, or at least immobile when lying in a pool of sweat, but it doesn’t often make you feel like being responsible, let alone figuring out where your life is headed. Mostly we ride it out with as many distractions as possible, put in our time at work until the half day whistle blows on Friday and the weekend begins. Then this week arrives and Labor Day stares us in the face like the barrel of a gun.

On the other side of the weekend lurks (gasp!) full work weeks, less relaxed dress codes, less happy hours, and seemingly a lot more accountability. Despite all this, fall always seems to signal the true beginning of a new year for me. I love the thought of renewal, even though it seems as if the world is fading around us. Friends return from vacation, tourists return to their towns, and we get to fall in love again with the city. If you were unsuccessful in turning your summer romance into a fall fling, or find yourself single again this season, the shorter days and cooler nights make it the perfect time to find someone else to cozy up with. The mad dash for holiday and hibernation, honeys, has officially begun.

But this new beginning doesn’t have to signal the start of yet another quest for a new love. Perhaps summer saw the end of your last relationship or you have no interest in settling down; let the energy of the back-to-schoolers renew your co-ed behavior and spend the season reacquainting yourself with friends, throwing yourself back into your career or classes, or for scoring as much fake-ID-carrying undergraduate ass as Chelsea can provide. I always loved the way new semesters felt, like anything was possible, and nothing had to be done quite yet, but opportunities to shine and grow were abundant. Maybe it’s just me, but I grow tired of summer’s malaise and look forward to new challenges of autumn.

So don’t mourn the end of summer, or dread the imminent winter. Enjoy this brief period of equilibrium, when the city is more alive than ever. As New Yorkers we made a conscious decision to remove ourselves from nature, but it’s impossible to ignore the changing leaves of Central Park trees, and the chilly breeze down 5th Avenue.

If you can think of something more exciting, promising, or romantic than that, then I guess you haven’t fallen as hard as I have for New York City fall. It’s time you did.

B.B. Nichols lives and works in New York. He has been writing Everybody Does It since 2005.

Appeared originally on www.Homo-neurotic.com on 9/2/09