Even though it was a thousand degrees with two thousand percent humidity last weekend, fall is within reach. Sure, it’s still technically summer, but school is in full swing, stores are stocked with Halloween stuff, and the shelves at Trader Joe’s feature pumpkin everything.
Full disclosure: fall is my favorite season, so I’m biased. But it’s also America’s favorite season, which makes it worthy of a blog post. Below, we present six things to love about fall.
1. Fresh Air
On a crisp fall day, there’s nothing like breathing in that fresh fall air. To boot, there are many fun outdoor activities to take advantage of, like apple and pumpkin picking, farmers’ markets, and trail hiking.
Speaking of farmers’ markets, we are surrounded by some great ones, including Northbrook, Deerfield, Buffalo Grove, and Ravinia.
2. Football
Okay, so the Bears got off to an inauspicious start. It’s just one game, and if history is any indication…hmmm, I’ll stop there. The point is that it’s football season! You can count on watching college and NFL games at least Thursday through Monday. The NFL even added an extra game this year, which gives you one more chance to dominate your fantasy football league.
3. A New Year
In Judaism, the High Holidays occur in fall, beginning with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. No matter how observant you are, it offers a time to reflect on the past year and to plan for the new one.
Fall also brings the start of a new school year, which represents a coming-of-age and right of passage for students in all stages of their learning and development.
4. Food
Hello.
You had me at caramel apples, hot cider, pumpkin pie, sage butter ravioli, and candy corns.
The culinary traditions of fall are second to none, according to me. In addition to the above treats, WebMD has a nice list of healthy counterparts, including apples not dipped in caramel, acorn squash (also not dipped in caramel), brussel sprouts, and cauliflower.
Food is sort of our world over here at BasketWorks, and we’d be remiss to omit a mention (🚨SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT🚨) of our line of fall baskets.
5. Halloween
According to The Top Tens, Halloween ranks as the second best holiday in the U.S. with Christmas in the one spot. The Harris Poll has it at number three behind Thanksgiving and Christmas. That’s pretty good company.
What’s there not to love about Halloween? You’ve got trick or treating, jack o’lanterns, horror films, The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, and pilfering from your kids’ candy bags while they’re sleeping.
The best part of Halloween is that everyone can get in on the costume action. In fact, last year 25% of adults said they planned to dress up, though we don’t have data on how many kids were embarrassed by their parents’ costumes of choice.
6. Thanksgiving
Perhaps the biggest reason to give thanks this year is having more freedom to gather with family and friends on Thanksgiving. The past 18 months have been challenging beyond belief, but we’ve persevered, and we can celebrate holidays with the peace-of-mind of having a little more safety.
Oh, and we’ll have access to sweet potatoes and marshmallows.
You can make the case for all seasons, but fall seems to possess that X factor of unique transitions, cuisines, sports, and holidays. Enjoy in good health!
Please subscribe to our blog post and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn.