Why is Autumn So Damn Good?

A Travel Through the Senses

Over the years, I have developed a feeling for autumn that is no different from that of many other people. I adore it. I pine for it. I bask in it. I find that by August in Delaware, when it has been hot and humid for what feels like an eternity, when the mosquitoes have been so bad that I can’t leave my house to walk to the mailbox or my car without being swarmed, the siren song of fall calls to me incessantly. 

To combat the summer blues, a term I’m hearing more and more from those who prefer the darker, cooler times of the year, I have started to put up my Halloween decorations in mid-August. As a former professor who always had to return to work at the height of the hot season, it has given me comfort to at least pretend that the season has changed for the better. I switch from floral candles to ones that smell like apples or pumpkin pie or forests; I hang the Halloween needlework; I decorate with garlands of orange and golden leaves, and I brighten up the dark spots of my living room with colorful spooky lights. I know many are obsessed with pumpkin spice, and I sometimes indulge, but there is something about the scent of mulled cider wafting through the house as I burn my first fire in the wood stove that feels more grounded and comforting. 

Once the season actually begins to transform, and the world outside has caught up with the world inside my home, I am able to spend some time on my sun porch, and this year, I realized that autumn is just so damn good because of the way it provides such a feast for all of the senses. Read along with these observations, and as you do, try to think about the ways that autumn delivers a banquet for your senses too!

1. Sight: I love the angle of the light changing. The way I notice this is mainly through the way the sun hits the ground or the trees. I am sure there is a scientific way to describe this, and a reason for it, but in my own terms, it feels as if the sun shines on objects nearly but not quite exactly sideways. What this does is to highlight parts of growing things that we don’t normally see. Right now, I’m looking at some large trees in my backyard, and I can see the bark on the sides of trees from a great distance as if in HD. The detail is spectacular. There is a golden glow that comes from this angle, as well, particularly at sunset. It is brief, but worth watching for. 

2. Smell: the scent of dying leaves reminds me of old books. There is a crispness, a dampness at times, the scent of vanilla, of musk, of decay, of smoke, maybe even something almost bitter, but balanced out by this rounded sweetness. Sometimes the scent of apples creeps in if you crunch leaves underfoot, even if you are nowhere near an apple tree. So walking through woods filled with leaves can feel like standing in an old bookshop.

3. Sound: of course the sound of those leaves crunching is sharp and satisfying, but I like to think of another sound in autumn, which is the sound of nothing at all. If I am on my porch, in the middle of the night, and there is no traffic, the sound can feel as if I am dropped into some kind of inky, black, comforting void. Maybe I will hear crickets, but eventually, even they grow quiet. This absence of sound that becomes a sound is not the same as the muffled version you hear in a great snowstorm, but more crystalline. A sharp contrast to that is the way that you can hear a single sound in the midst of that quietude, and it can be from a very great distance, but it travels so far, almost like an echo. I think that may come from the leaves being gone from the trees, so sound can feel as if it travels without obstacles. 

4. Touch: Summer air surrounds you and can feel oppressive on your skin. It can seep right in even when you don’t want it to, or it can be very hot and feel as if it is actively tanning (or burning) your skin. Autumn air is different: it hovers just outside your skin. It asks if it may enter your pores. You don’t have to let it. It will accept your decision. If you don’t let it, it will simply surround you, almost as if you have an impenetrable layer around you, and it hovers just beyond. Autumn air is polite that way. 

5. Taste: Ahhhhh, comfort foods. So much can be said for the way that autumn inspires you to take out the crock pot or the cast iron and make pies, both savory and sweet, or soups and stews. Autumn is the best time to get back to that bread-making we all started at the beginning of the pandemic, but this time, we might consider heartier loaves, multigrain concoctions that pair well with a lovely bowl of French onion soup. But if you aren’t a fan of cooking, you can still taste fall on the air. Simply walk outside on a crisp day, open your mouth, and inhale. Now you’re tasting the decaying leaves, and it is a complex and delicious flavor that can sustain you quite nicely. 
   

And to these, I will add the sixth sense, for isn’t autumn the best time for us to reforge our connections with our ancestors? The veil is thinning, as the saying goes, and the glimpses of the spirit world are all around. You might pay attention to sightings of animal messengers, for they are plentiful this time of year. Why, just last week, I saw three: crows high in a tree, then a hawk at my bird feeder, followed by a large garter snake by my steps. Perhaps these were always there, but it was only in autumn when they chose to reveal themselves to me, assuring me of protection and support on my path through the woods of life. 

So why is Autumn so damn good? Because it’s got everything we need to lift and sustain us. It comes with magic for every one of our senses. These are my observations; are yours similar, or do you experience autumn through your senses in different ways? Please leave me a comment to let me know!