Autumn Has Arrived! Throw Open the Windows!

Each year it seems that the period of time in which we can throw open the windows in the house grows shorter and shorter. Mid-spring, say April 15 – May 15 is one such period. Mid fall–October 15 – early November–is another. During those times, the temperature outside is normally just right. We can open the windows and enjoy fresh air. The air is not humid. It is a little cooler than inside the house, which always feels nice. Yesterday was the first day of fall, and today, after the rain passed, the sky had that soft color that is one indication that autumn is upon us. The temperatures dropped and this evening, it was finally cool enough to allow us to throw open the windows.

There are twelve windows in my office and I opened a bunch of them this evening. The sliding glass door out to the deck is open. The front window in the living room is open. Several bedroom windows are open. Some windows downstairs are open. The air in the house feels wonderful.

I sleep better with the windows open, but just about everyone else in the house gets congested when they sleep with the windows open so I can rarely do it. Tonight would be a great night to sleep with the windows open. The crickets are loud and lull me to sleep. I would love to live in a place where we could throw open the windows for most of the spring and fall. (I would not love to live in a place where there was no spring and fall.)

Fall is my second favorite season, right behind spring. Summer is hot and humid from start to finish. Winter is cold, and occasionally snowy. Spring is great because everything comes alive again. Fall is the opposite, with nature making slow preparations to bed down for the winter. Of all of the places I’ve ever been in the fall, New England seems about the perfect place to be and I’m often envious of the people I know who live there during this time of the year.

Fall means the end of the baseball season, the playoffs, and the Fall Classic, also known as the World Series. Fall is better for reading books. Yesterday, on the first day of fall, I finished reading the new Walt Longmire book, Daughter of the Morning Star by Craig Johnson. Last night, since it was the first day of fall, I lay in bed with the window open (closing it before I went to sleep) and read Ken Follett’s short book, Notre-Dame: A Short History of the Meaning of Cathedrals. Some of my favorite books I’ve ever read, I read in the fall¹. The first time I read Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury was in the fall. The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear I read in during fall. The first time I read Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella it was fall. Stephen King’s 11/22/63 was a fall read.

I often want to open the windows in the summer, but it is too hot and humid. Occasionally, on a more mild winter day, I’ll crack open a window, especially in the bathroom when I shower. The cold air always feels good. In the summer, when I can see the heat rising from the pavement, I always have a hard time remembering what winter is like. In the winter, when the ground is icy and I have to bundle up to go outside, I always have a hard time remembering what summer is like. In both summer and winter, I often look forward to spring and fall because I know I’ll be able to open the windows again.