Yesterday I went shopping at Tarjay, and some of the new fall decor is out. This is the time of year that always gets me down the most. Being from New England, I am used to fall – it signals new and fresh and cozy more than spring does. It’s the end of summer, the end of don’t-touch-me-it’s-too-hot weather, back to school, new clothes, new haircuts, new everything. The leaves turn from green to all sorts of reds, oranges, and yellows, and there’s a crisp smell in the air. Shorts and bathing suits get packed up in favor of sweaters. I love sweaters. Apple picking, pumpkin carving, baking all sorts of goodies (now that it’s cool enough to actually turn the oven on), even having a fire in the fireplace.
Living in Vegas, I cannot partake in any of these fall rituals. The fall season in Vegas exists only because the calendar says it’s so. September still sees temperatures into the hundreds. Air conditioning is still a necessity well into October. Sweaters are only worn in homes, stores, and offices where the a/c is set too cold. A quart of ice cream has no hope of getting home alive, unless you bring a cooler and buy ice at the store. Baking is still a dream, as is grilling, because it’s too hot outside to stand over hot coals. At night, we’re lucky if temps fall into the upper 70s. *sigh*
I miss New England weather more and more every year. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, they say. I have to keep reminding myself that I moved here after one of the coldest, snowiest winters on record. I have to keep reminding myself that I couldn’t get the temp in my condo above 60 if the temps outside dropped below 20. I have to keep reminding myself that I was cleaning an inch or two of snow off my car every single day. That kind of weather really wears on you. But so does the heat. I can always put on another sweater or some gloves and sip some hot cocoa. There’s only so much clothing I can take off, especially in public. I just don’t have the body for that kind of exposure.
My craving for a real New England fall will be satisfied for a week next month. When I return, I will be filled with visions of decorating for the fall. Setting out decorative items in all sorts of reds, oranges, and rust colors. Pumpkins and leafy knicknacks. A clear, pumpkin shaped jar filled with candy corn. But it doesn’t seem right. It doesn’t fit here in Vegas. The desert can appear to be the same colors as a New England fall, but it’s not the same. It lacks something when one attempts to recreate the feeling here. It’s just not . . . cozy. It’s not the same walking into a house all dressed up for fall when outside still smells like stale summer, not crisp leaves and that cool nip in the air. It needs to be cozy.
Mister and I both agree that we need to move out of Vegas, and we will, when the time is right. Bigger forces keep us here – for now.
As much as I complain about the weather in Canada, I totally understand. I know I’d miss the seasons.
I have been to very hot places, such as Brazil and Australia and I was amazed the temperature wouldn’t change… at all! It’s fun for a while but I’d get sick of it.
Yeah, I’ve been in Vegas for over 6 years now. I still remember how disappointed I was that first fall when it just did not cool down. Not only does our temperature not change, but our weather doesn’t either. Bright and sunny all the time may be a dream for a lot of people, but it gets really boring. I get excited when I see clouds building up, even though it rarely rains.
As a girl who grew up in Michigan and now lives in Texas, I feel ya.
But I console myself with the fact that, while it may still be summer here while everyone else enjoys fall, come winter I’ll be enjoying lovely crisp fall weather for weeks on end while everyone else freezes their asses off and retrieves their dented cars from ditches after sliding off icy roads. :-)
Kaila, I start getting depressed in January. By then the novelty of cooler weather has worn off, and knowing the blazing heat is just around the corner doesn’t help. To each his own, I guess.
Puppie, we don’t usually get ice here, but it did snow once last winter. It was such a fun novelty! But there weren’t too many accidents from it – everyone was so careful that almost the entire city was gridlocked. Rain, on the other hand…
There is something about autumn that absolutely depresses me. Maybe it’s the days growing shorter, and more darkness, maybe it’s the cold coming…I don’t know.
I do know that I actually get borderline depressed during the period between Halloween and New Years. All those leaves changing colors…I guess it’s lost on me.
I love the hot weather…really! Around January 1st I start to pep up because I know spring is just around the corner.
Hmmmm..how many more days until Spring?