Happy happy Friday, fabulous ones, and welcome to the Open Mic! Guest posts will return next week with words (and our first video?) from Seth Bogner. For today, let’s talk. If you’re new here or have forgotten how this works, when we don’t have a guest post, I pose a question and we all discuss in the comments. Ready? Here we go!
Okay, I know that you all in other parts of the world are well into the fall season. But around here — or is it only because I was in Asia for two weeks? — it’s just starting to feel properly autumnal. As autumnal as the Bay Area gets, anyway.
Suzhou hand-embroidered panel. (We saw one very like this, in Hong Kong.) From Yessy.com
My question to you is: what does the change in seasons do for you? Do you get excited about the new plants (or lack thereof), new produce, new holidays? Or do you get climate change-induced migraines and begin to long for the season that just passed?
Feel free to discuss this season in particular, or any seasonal thoughts at all. (I can’t read the word seasonal without thinking of a typo on the menu of a local Cantonese restaurant: “special soup (seansonal)”.)
Comments are open all weekend. See you there!
satsumabug.com | Lisa Hsia 
I’m going to resist the urge to say exactly how much I dislike/hate autumn and why. Suffice it to say, I’m wading through darkness, waiting for light, and trying to abide. I’m a sucker for the artificial “love and merrymaking” of the holidays. I hope I can wrap myself up and hide in all of that, once it starts up. I’m one who doesn’t lament the fact that the decorations are going up already. I actually need that sort of thing right now.
I like the festive atmosphere too, and can definitely see how it would perk you up if you don’t like the season! Wish I could package up the sky and warmth here and send it to you so it would come streaming out into your house, glittering, when you uncorked the bottle. 🙂
Well here in the mountain area of Western North Carolina, Tennessee, and Upstate South Carolina, we get to see the colors change from the top down. It is beautiful to see the contrast among the trees at different elevations. And for me personally, this time of years means mountain biking in the brisk mountain air.
Walter, that sounds wonderful. I’ve only ever been to North Carolina in the muggy summer, so I can only imagine how beautiful it must look at this time of year! Breathe in some extra mountain air for me. 🙂
every time the seasons change i love it!!! i’m like a little kid. summer’s coming? yay! almost fall? yay!! cheesy holiday decorations? bring it on!! 😀 i’m always really excited to plan for halloween and thanksgiving and christmas.
granted my definition of “seasons changing” comes from a lifetime in the bay area and 5 years in LA so… take that as you will 🙂 for example, i spent the day in santa cruz today and it was 90 degrees and sunny ALL DAY. warm enough to walk along the beach in a t-shirt after the sun went down… and it’s almost halloween!! crazy crazy weather can’t make up its mind. but i can definitely appreciate some brisk fall air, especially if it’s accompanied by the smell of wood fire. mmmmmmm 🙂
Hee, I’m exactly the same way as you — the change in seasons always gets me excited, and like you, I’m speaking from Bay Area and LA experience exclusively. ;b It’s not just the upcoming holidays and birthdays, but the new kinds of food I’m thrilled about too. Pumpkin desserts! Bean soups and spice cakes! Apples and pears!
i absolutely LOVE the foods!!! hot chocolate… butternut squash soup mmmmmmmmmm i LOVE feasting all season long 😀 thanksgiving… christmas… i love the warm hearty food.
on a slightly depressing side note, last year for the holidays i was underweight from india and it allowed me to GORGE myself all season long without thought or consequence 😀 but this year i’m somehow 15 or so (EEP!) pounds heavier than last year and thus i shouldn’t indulge quite as much as i’d like 😥
Hee. That’s the problem with winter. Easier (and more instinctive) to eat, harder (mentally and logistically) to exercise!
What a timely question, Lisa! We just spent the weekend in the NC mountains, visiting Sky Top Apple Orchard and the Tuxedo Farmer’s Market. When I was young, growing up in California, my family always went to the mountains to get apples in the fall. Such a perfect seasonal tradition, and I love to see families still doing that. I totally love fall: the vibrant colors, the return to warming foods like soups and stews, the way the light changes and the air is so clear and fine, almost like champagne, crisp days and cool nights, the crunch of leaves underfoot. Fall speaks to all the senses!
Sherry, that sounds marvelous. I’ve never done the mountain apple picking thing, though when I lived in LA fall always meant the wonderful new crops (and ciders!) from the apple growers in the nearby mountain country. There was one particular Asian family who also made Asian pear jam. Mmmm.
I went to a farmers’ market over the weekend and bought four kinds of apples: Black Twig, Pippin, Jonagold, and Summerfeld. I can’t say I particularly loved any of them, but it was still fun to see how different they all looked, and observe the differences in flavor and texture. I was going to paint them… but I ate them instead. ;b
Normally, I’m excited about fall because it means (a) hearty festive foods, (b) cooler weather so I can bake more, and (c) the end of the heat. But this year fall doesn’t exactly feel like fall here, because it was chilly and overcast for so much of the summer. I never properly unpacked all my summer clothes because every time I took out a tank top or two, the weather would chill right up again and I’d be reaching for the sweaters the next day. Still, it’s hard for me not to get excited about a season that begins with apples and pears and costumes, and ends with a feast and then my birthday soon after. 😀
Lisa, reasons A B & C all apply to me. After the heat and humidity of a southern summer, fall weather is a blessing indeed. Have you ever tried a Pink Lady apple? It is my favorite eating apple: crisp, sweet, but tangy too. Delicious! Pound for pound, I brought home more butternut squash than apples. For some reason they have been scarce in our local farmer’s market this year.
Yes! I do very much like Pink Ladies. Also Arkansas Blacks, though I can’t really tell whether it’s the eating experience I love or just their incredible, deep, magical color. I used to be a big Fuji fan but these days I’m finding them too sweet for my taste.
I saw the cutest baby butternut squashes at that market. They were the size of pears. So adorable!