This is the time of the year where you read about why people LOVE fall.  They talk about fall leaves, cooler weather, and upcoming holidays.  Well a lot of the reasons that people give for why they love fall are the exact reasons why I don’t like fall.  They are the reasons that, if we had the means to do so, we would move to a warmer climate.  So here are some of the reasons why I don’t like fall.

1. It gets cooler.
While others look forward to the cooler weather that fall brings, I can’t stand cold temperatures and anything under 80 degrees is too cold for me.  I dread the pain that my body feels as soon as those cooler temperatures come in.  While Sean doesn’t like the heat the way I do, he also has found that as he has gotten older, the cold bothers him a lot more than it used to as well.  I think he’s pretty happy with the 70s.  As soon as it gets cooler, I start looking forward to summer when I know it will get warmer again.

2. The leaves change.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the changing colors in the leaves as much as the next person.  However, changing leaves eventually turn brown, fall off trees and become a nuisance.  They get all over the yard.  The kids gather them up and play in them, they they just lay there until someone rakes, them up, bags them or turns them into a mulch.  Then you have the bare trees, which for me are very depressing.

3. Holiday Fun
While I love family get togethers and watching kids happily open presents, for me the holidays are a time of stress, as well.  Businesses rush things, you see Christmas stuff come out as soon as October gets here.  We don’t celebrate Halloween, I do however, take a few moments to remember those who have passed and pray that I will see them again when Jesus returns.  Most businesses seem to forget that there is a holiday called Thanksgiving.  And Christmas, while we enjoy remembering the day of Jesus’ birth, has become so commercialized, that it seems for most it’s not so much a reminder of Jesus as it is a time of what am I going to get.  Houses are covered in lights, which really bother me when I’m driving.  It’s too cold to get out and really enjoy the day. 

I still love getting together with my family, but I feel so down because of the cold and dreary weather, that I can’t really enjoy it.  I need the sun and warm weather and that’s really all I think about all fall and winter long.

4. Winter comes too soon.
Many people love snow and the cold weather.  I’m just the opposite.  I could go the rest of my life and never see another snowflake, and I would be perfectly happy.  I don’t want to get out at all when it’s cold and I don’t like driving in the snow.  Where we live, they aren’t good at clearing the roads, so we can be stuck inside for days before the road is clear enough to safely get out and drive.  If there is too much snow or we have an ice storm, we can loose electricity.  I don’t like being cold, my body begins to ache and I don’t want to get out of bed.  I also dislike shoveling snow and most of the time, I’m the one stuck doing just that.  The kids try, but either Sean or I have to get out after they are done and shovel anyway.  If there is too much snow, Sean looses work.  Either he can’t get out, or jobs cancel because of dangerous roads.  When he is working, I worry about him driving on the slick and dangerous roads.

You are doing a couple things right now after reading this.  You are wondering why we don’t move somewhere warmer and you are asking yourself at this point if there is anything that I do like about fall.  Well yes, there are things that I do like.  I like being able to have a fit pit going.  I love the smells of fall.  I do love the changing leaves while they are on the trees.  I love getting together with family and friends during the holidays.  I love the smiles on the kids faces when they open presents at Christmas.  So there are some things I look forward to, but when it comes down to it, every year, I dread the coming of fall and the cold weather, and immediately look forward to when summer will come again to warm me up.

As for moving somewhere warmer, if we had the means to we would.  Moving away from where we are now, means leaving behind family and family is more important to me.  Actually, family is the most important thing to me after my love of God.  However, we don’t have the money to move. Maybe one day, but not right now.  Sean would need to find a new job, and with the economy the way it is, it’s too much of a risk at this time.  I don’t want to leave Lorianna’s neurologist.  We have one of the best neurologists in the country and at this time, it’s not in her best interest to move her away.  So every year, I watch fall come in and try my hardest to pretend that I’m in the warmth of summer and that my body doesn’t burn and ache so badly that I can barely move.  Every year, when fall comes, I immediately start looking forward to May and June when the weather gets warm enough for me to feel more like the real me again.  And every year, I try my hardest to find the positive things about fall and the coming of winter.