Saturday, 22 September 2012

Seasonal Perception.

It surprises me how often I read on blog posts and in comments ‘autumn is my favourite season.’ I’ve been seeing it a lot this year, especially from America which has had an unusually hot summer. And I think that gives the clue to it.

We in Britain tend to me more ambivalent about autumn. We like the colours, and maybe the cosy novelty of darker evenings spent closeted indoors, but Britain is set quite far north for such a densely populated country. We’re on the same latitude as Labrador and southern Alaska. That means we get less daylight through autumn, winter and spring than many of the heavily populated areas of the western world. And we have a maritime climate, which means that summers are relatively short, often fickle, and not overly hot. We start using the term ‘heatwave’ when the temperature threatens to rise above the 70s, even in July. We treasure our short summers, and we feel cheated if we don’t get a good one.

When summer gives way to autumn, as she now has, you’re as likely to hear rueful voices muttering ‘well, that’s it for another year’ as you are to hear somebody say ‘autumn is my favourite season.’

2 comments:

andrea kiss said...

Autumn has always been my favorite and i always start to feel more creative. Also, Autumn means Halloween, which is my favorite holiday. This time of year feels, to me, cozy and at the same time mysterious and inspiring. An odd combination...

Its very beautiful in most of America this time of year, especially in the north east and in the northern part of 'the south,' if that makes sense. So i think that, Halloween, football season, and Thanksgiving coming up is why a lot of Americans love the fall of the year. I've also hear a lot of people say they like fall and winter clothing better. I know i do. Oh, and lets not forget another important day in American history: my birthday ;)

JJ said...

OK, I'm convinced, even though we don't have Thanksgiving over here. We do have Bonfire Night, though, which is the date on which I was supposed to be born. I was three weeks late. Sometimes wish I'd just dug my heels in and defied gravity...